– Description:
– Pentadesma butyracea has a straight, cylindrical bole without buttress and an average height of 20m.
– Bears large bright red flowers, giving edible berries whose seed is used to make butter.
– The flowers of the butter tree are pollinated by the Woermanns bat.
– Uses:
– The seeds are used to make kpangnan butter also called “painya,” “kanya” in Benin, “Kanga” in Sierra Leone, “Akpoto” in Togo among others.
– Kpangnan butter can be stored for one to three years without going rancid.
– Kpangnan is traded locally, particularly in central Togo and Benin, occasionally sold in the US and Europe as yellow shea butter.
– Kpangnan butter has a high stigmasterol content (around 45% of the sterol content), which has potential health benefits.
– Used in cosmetics, as edible oil, and for the manufacture of traditional soaps.
– References:
– Impact du ramassage des fruits de Pentadesma butyracea sur sa régénération naturelle et analyse financière de la commercialisation de ses produits au Bénin.
– Etude de la Faculté des sciences agronomiques, Université dAbomey-Calavi-Bénin.
– Transactions of the Horticultural Society of London 5: 457. 1824 by Sabine.
– Plants of the World Online.
– Archived information on the impact of fruit collection on natural regeneration and financial analysis of product commercialization in Benin.
– Notable Features:
– Kpangnan butter and shea butter are extracted from two different tree species with distinct scents, appearances, and textures.
– Kpangnan butter has a unique high stigmasterol content, a sterol unsaturated vegetable fat with various potential uses.
– Research indicates stigmasterol in kpangnan butter may reduce the risk of certain cancers, including ovarian cancer.
– Kpangnan butter has been harvested in West Africa for generations, used in cosmetics, as edible oil, and in traditional soap making.
– Known for its long shelf life and local trade in central Togo and Benin, with occasional export to the US and Europe.
– Botanical Information:
– Scientific name: Pentadesma butyracea.
– Known as the butter tree.
– Flowers of the butter tree are pollinated by the Woermanns bat.
– Used for making kpangnan butter, a product with various commercial and traditional uses.
– Grows up to an average height of 20m with a straight, cylindrical bole and large bright red flowers.