market and technical survey

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1、FintracInc.May1999MarketandTechnicalSurvey:SheaNutsIntroductionSheanutsareprimarilygrowninWestandCentralAfricainthesemi-aridSahel,referredtobytradersastheSheaBelt.VitellariaparadoxaandVitellarianiloticaarethetwomainvarieties.Vitellariaparadoxaisexportedinthelargestvolumeandgrowsthroughoutthe

2、WestAfricanregion.VitellarianiloticaisproducedprimarilyinnorthernUgandaandsouthernSudan.Sheanutproducts,thesolidfat(butterorstearin)andtheliquidoil(olein),areidealforuseasrawmaterialsincookingoil,margarine,cosmetics,soap,detergentsandcandles,butithasfounditsprimarymarketnicheasasubstitutefor

3、cocoabutterinthechocolateandconfectioneryindustry.ProductionMethodSheanuttreesgrowwidelyandnaturallyinWestAfrica.Theyonlybegintobearfruitafterabout20yearsanddonotreachmaturityfor45years.Theymaycontinuetoproducenutsforupto200yearsafterreachingmaturity.Thelongperiodtakentoreachmaturityhasdisco

4、uragedplantationplanting,althoughtheyareusedasshadetreesforothercropsincertaindryareas.AlsothefactthatsupplyTheSheaNutTreefaroutstripsdemandhasfouled(PhotoCredit:KARITEA,France)attemptstodomesticatethetrees.Thenuts,whichareembeddedinasoftfruit,falltothegroundduringtheharvestingperiod(typical

5、lyJunethroughAugust).Theyarethenburiedinpitswhichcausesthepulptofermentanddisintegrateandproducesenoughheattopreventgermination.Thenutsaredriedforafewdaysandarelatershelledandwinnowed,usuallybyhand.ThekernelsaredriedfurtherSheaNutstoreducemoisturecontentfromabout(PhotoCredit:CREDO,Finland)40

6、percenttoabout7percent.MarketandTechnicalSurvey:SheaNuts1FintracInc.May1999Aprocesscalledfractionationseparatestheoil(olein)andbutter(stearin).ThiscanbedonelocallyandallowsfortheextractionoftheliquidoilwhichismuchmorevaluabletoWestAfricansbecauseofitsnutritionalcontentbyaprocessinvolvingtheh

7、eatingandkneadingofthecrushedkernelsandstrainingtheresultantoilymass.Manufacturersinthechocolateandotherfoodindustriesprefertobuythesheanutsasopposedtothebuttersothattheycanhaveasmuchcontrolaspossibleovertheprocessingandqualityofthefinalproduct.Nut