Butters

Shea Stearin

Also: Shea butter stearin, Shea stearine, Hard fraction of shea butter, Solid fraction of shea butter.

The saponification value here is derived, not published. No primary document we could use gives one for Shea Stearin, so it is calculated from this record's own fatty-acid composition: chain lengths fix the molar mass, which fixes how much hydroxide a gram of fat consumes. That gives 189.8 mg KOH/g, ±3 %.

That is stoichiometry on a measured composition rather than a guess, and it is about as well determined as a published figure: checked against the 35 Codex oils where both fields come from the same standard, the method's median error is 0.90 % and its 90th percentile 2.74 %, with no meaningful bias. The formula page shows the working. If you have a certificate of analysis for your lot, enter its measured value in the calculator and this estimate is set aside.

Published values

Saponification value	not published
Derived from composition	189.8 ± 3 % mg KOH/g
Used by the calculator	189.8 mg KOH/g (derived)
SAP for NaOH	0.1353 g/g
Iodine value	—
INS (SAP − IV)	—
Melting point	—
Unsaponifiable matter	1–1.1 %

A bar made of 100 % Shea Stearin

Hardness 63 above 29–54

Cleansing 0 below 12–22

Conditioning 35 below 44–69

Bubbly lather 0 below 14–46

Creamy lather 63 above 16–48

Conventional qualities summed from the fatty-acid groups; a single-oil bar is a reference point, not a recipe.

Fatty-acid profile

Fatty acid		Published range, %	Used
Palmitic acid	C16:0 · saturated	2.9–6.2	4.6
Stearic acid	C18:0 · saturated	55.8–60.9	58.3
Oleic acid	C18:1	31.3–32.2	31.8
Linoleic acid	C18:2	2.7–3.5	3.1
Arachidic acid	C20:0 · saturated	1.8	1.8

Where these numbers come from

AAK USA Inc. (producer); GRAS notice prepared by Exponent, Inc., published in the U.S. FDA GRAS Notice Inventory — GRAS Notice (GRN) No. 1116, part 1 (GRN Parts 1-4): 'Generally Recognized As Safe (GRAS) Conclusion for the Use of Shea Stearin in Select Foods'. · document dated 2022-09-28 · read 2026-09-24

Table 5 (fatty acids), Table 6 (unsaponifiables), Table 9 (specifications), Table 10 (three non-consecutive batches) and the text on identity and unsaponifiables.

AAK USA Inc. (producer); U.S. FDA GRAS Notice Inventory — GRAS Notice (GRN) No. 1116, part 3 (GRN Appendix A and B): analytical data and certificates of analysis for shea stearin. · read 2026-09-24

Certificates of analysis for lots 20D32084, 20D32107 and 20D32221 (values re-paired to their labels; the PDF text layer prints them four lines above their labels).

The solid, stearic-rich fraction of shea butter; its main triglyceride is StOSt (1,3-distearoyl-2-oleoylglycerol), 'roughly 75% of the triglycerides by weight' per the notice. All figures are from GRAS Notice GRN 1116, filed with the US FDA for AAK USA Inc. by Exponent, Inc. (28 September 2022). Table 5 (percent of total fatty acids): an industrially produced shea stearin reported by Danthine et al. (2015): palmitic 2.9, stearic 60.9, oleic 31.3, linoleic 2.7, arachidic 1.8, other 0.4; and AAK batches A/B/C: palmitic 6.2/4.5/4.3, stearic 55.8/57.1/57.8, oleic 31.8/32.2/31.8, linoleic 3.4/3.5/3.4, arachidic 1.8/1.8/1.8, other 1.0/0.9/0.9 (the PDF text prints each batch row one line above its label; re-paired using the text, which gives stearic about 57 % and oleic about 32 %, and Table 10). The ranges span all four columns; AAK's product sits at the higher-palmitic, lower-stearic end. AAK's certificates of analysis in Appendix A (lots 20D32084, 20D32107, 20D32221, made 21 Nov, 26 Nov and 11 Dec 2020): stearic 55.77/57.11/57.84 %, oleic 31.83/32.18/31.83 %, unsaponifiable matter 1.1/1.0/1.1 %, free fatty acid 0.05/0.064/0.047 % as oleic; specification (Table 9, Table 10 and the certificates): stearic at least 50 %, oleic at most 40 %, unsaponifiable at most 3 %, free fatty acid at most 1.0 %, peroxide under 10 meq/kg. The text: 'the concentration of unsaponifiable matter in the shea stearin is typically 1% given current production processes'; sterols/triterpenes are about 0.5 g/100 g in the stearin against 5.5 g/100 g in the olein, i.e. they go to the olein when shea butter is fractionated. The notice describes the product as 'an ivory to straw-colored (off-white), brittle solid at room temperature' and gives no saponification value, iodine value or melting point; the build derives the saponification value from the profile (about 190 mg KOH/g). No INCI name specific to shea stearin was found in CosIng; AAK's certificates give the label ingredient statement 'USA: Shea Oil; Canada: Modified Shea Oil'.

This record is part of the open ingredient database (ODbL). Found an error or a better primary source? The dataset is on GitHub; corrections with a document link are welcome.