COCOBUTER[THEOBROMA CACAO]

Listing description

Cocoa butter, also called theobroma oil, is a pale-yellow, edible vegetable fat extracted from the cocoa bean. It is used to makechocolate, as well as some ointments, toiletries, and pharmaceuticals. Cocoa butter has a cocoa flavor and aroma.

Detailed description

Extraction and composition

Cocoa butter is obtained from whole cocoa beans, which are fermented, roasted, and then separated from their hulls. About 54–58% of the residue is cocoa butter. Chocolate liquor is pressed to separate the cocoa butter from the cocoa solids.^[3] The Broma process is used to extract cocoa butter from ground cacao beans. Cocoa butter is sometimes deodorized to remove strong or undesirable tastes.^[4]

Cocoa butter contains a high proportion of saturated fats, derived from stearic and palmitic acids.^[5][6][7] Cocoa butter, unlike cocoa solids, has no more than trace amounts of caffeineand theobromine.^[8]

Typical Fatty acid composition (%):^[9]

Fatty acid	Percentage
Arachidic acid (C20:0)	1.0%
Linoleic acid (C18:2)	3.2%
Oleic acid (C18:1)	34.5%
Palmitic acid (C16:0)	26.0%
Palmitoleic acid (C16:1)	0.3%
Stearic acid (C18:0)	34.5%
Other Fatty Acids	0.5%

Adulterants

Some food manufacturers substitute less expensive materials such as vegetable oils and fats in place of cocoa butter. Several analytical methods exist for testing for diluted cocoa butter. Adulterated cocoa butter is indicated by its lighter color and its diminished fluorescence upon ultraviolet illumination. Unlike cocoa butter, adulterated fat tends to smear and have a higher non-saponifiable content.^[10]

Substitutes

Cocoa butter is becoming increasingly expensive. Substitutes have been designed to use as alternatives. In the United States, 100% cocoa butter must be used for the product to be called chocolate. The EU requires that alternative fats not exceed 5% of the total fat content.^[9]

Fats used for this purpose include: Cocoa Butter Substitute – coconut oil or palm oil; Cocoa butter Replacer – soybean oil, rapeseed oil and cottonseed oil; Cocoa Butter Equivalent – shea butter, illipe, sal nut, palm, mango kernel fat,^[11][12] palm oils,^[9] and PGPR.

Uses

Cocoa butter is a major ingredient in practically all types of chocolates (white chocolate, milk chocolate, but also dark chocolate). This application continues to dominate consumption of cocoa butter.

Pharmaceutical companies heavily use cocoa butter's physical properties. As a nontoxic solid at room temperature that melts at body temperature, it is considered an ideal base for medicinal suppositories.^[13]

Personal care

Cocoa butter is one of the most stable fats known, a quality that, coupled with natural antioxidants, prevents rancidity, giving it a storage life of two to five years.^{[citation needed]} The velvety texture, pleasant fragrance and emollient properties of cocoa butter have made it a popular ingredient in products for the skin, such as soaps and lotions.

The moisturizing abilities of cocoa butter are frequently recommended for prevention of stretch marks in pregnant women, treatment of chapped or burned skin and lips, and as a daily moisturizer to prevent dry, itchy skin.^[13] Cocoa butter's moisturizing properties are also said to be effective for treating mouth sores.^[14] However, the largest clinical study regarding the effects of cocoa butter on stretch marks in pregnant women found that results were no different from a placebo.^[15]

Physical properties

The most common form of cocoa butter has a melting point of around 34–38 °C (93–101 °F), rendering solid chocolate at room temperaturethat readily melts once inside the mouth. Cocoa butter displays polymorphism, having α, γ, β', and β crystals, with melting points of 17, 23, 26, and 35–37 °C respectively. The production of chocolate typically uses only the β crystal for its high melting point. A uniform crystal structure will result in smooth texture, sheen, and snap.^{[citation needed]} Overheating cocoa butter converts the structure to a less stable form that melts below room temperature. Given time, it will naturally return to the most stable β crystal form. The polymorphic transformation hypothesis attempts to explain chocolate bloom in terms of the differing crystal forms. Since bloomed chocolates are always found to contain the most stable polymorph of cocoa butter, this hypothesis holds that bloom occurs through the uncontrolled polymorphic transformation of cocoa butter from a less stable form to the most stable form.

PRICE

$41.06/KG

For more information:

mobile: +2348039721941

contact person: emeaba uche

website: www.franchiseminerals.com

e-mail: emeabau@yahoo.com

SHEA BUTTER(VITELLARIA PARADOXA)

Listing Description:

Shea butter (/ˈʃiː/ or /ˈʃiː.ə/) is an off- white or ivory-colored fat extracted from the nut of the African shea tree (Vitellaria paradoxa).^[1] Shea butter is a triglyceride (fat) derived mainly from stearic acid and oleic acid. It is widely used in cosmetics as a moisturizer, salve or lotion. Shea butter is edible and is used in food preparation in Africa.^[2] Occasionally, the chocolate industry uses shea butter mixed with other oils as a substitute for cocoa butter, although the taste is noticeably different.

Detailed Description:

The English word "shea" comes from s’í, the tree's name in the Bambara language of Mali.^[5] It is also known by many other local names, e.g. karité in the Wolof language ofSenegal,^[6] "Ori" in some parts of West Africa, and many others.

History

Accounts from as early as Cleopatra's Egypt speak of caravans bearing clay jars of valuable shea butter for cosmetic use. The funeral beds of early kings were carved in the wood of shea trees. Shea butter's skin care and healing properties were first harnessed thousands of years ago. The history of shea as a precious commodity can be traced back toAncient Egypt, where shea butter was and continues to be used to protect the hair and skin against the fierce sun and the hot dry winds of African deserts and savannah.

Butter extraction and refining

Separating/cracking: The outer pulp of the fruit is removed. When dry, the nut, which is the source of shea butter, must be separated from the outer shell. This is a social activity, traditionally done by Women Elders and young girls who sit on the ground and break the shells with small rocks.The traditional method of preparing unrefined shea butter consists of the following steps:

·         Crushing: To make the shea nuts into butter, they must be crushed. Traditionally, this is done with mortars and pestles. It requires lifting the pestles and grinding the nuts into the mortars to crush the nuts so they can be roasted.

·         Roasting: The crushed nuts are then roasted in huge pots over open, wood fires. The pots must be stirred constantly with wooden paddles so the butter does not burn. The butter is heavy and stirring it is hot, smoky work, done under the sun. This is where the slight smoky smell of traditional shea butter originates.

·         Grinding: The roasted shea nuts are ground into a smoother paste, water is gradually added and the paste is mixed well by hand.

·         Separating the oils: The paste is kneaded by hand in large basins and water is gradually added to help separate out the butter oils. As they float to the top, the butter oils, which are in a curd state, are removed and excess water squeezed out. The butter oil curds are then melted in large open pots over slow fires. A period of slow boiling will remove any remaining water, by evaporation.

·         Collecting and shaping: The shea butter, which is creamy or golden yellow at this point, is ladled from the top of the pots and put in cool places to harden. Then it is formed into balls.

Industrially, a mechanical sheller such as the Universal Nut Sheller may be used. The refined butter may be extracted with chemicals such as hexane, or by clay filtering.

Composition and properties

Shea butter extract is a complex fat that in addition to many nonsaponifiable components (substances that cannot be fully converted into soap by treatment with alkali) contains the following fatty acids:oleic acid (40-60%), stearic acid (20-50%), linoleic acid (3-11%), palmitic acid (2-9%), linolenic acid (<1%) and arachidic acid (<1%).^[11]

Shea butter melts at body temperature. Proponents of its use for skin care maintain that it absorbs rapidly into the skin, acts as a "refatting" agent, and has good water-binding properties.^[12]

Uses

Shea butter is mainly used in the cosmetics industry for skin and hair related products (lip gloss, skin moisturizer creams and emulsions, and hair conditioners for dry and brittle hair).^{[citation needed]} It is also used by soap makers, typically in small amounts (5-7% of the oils in the recipe), because it has plenty of unsaponifiables.^{[citation needed]}

In some African countries such as Benin, shea butter is used for cooking oil, as a waterproofing wax, for hairdressing, for candle-making, and also as an ingredient in medicinal ointments. It is also used by makers of traditional African percussion instruments to increase the durability of wood (such as carved djembe shells), dried calabash gourds, and leather tuning straps.

Shea butter can also be an ingredient of organic broth.

Medicinal

Shea butter is sometimes used as a base for medicinal ointments. Some of the isolated chemical constituents are reported to have anti-inflammatory, emollient and humectantproperties.^[14] Shea butter has been used as a sunblocking lotion and has a limited capacity to absorb ultraviolet radiation.^[3]

In Ghana, shea butter, locally known as nkuto (Akan) or nku (Ga) is applied as lotion to protect the skin during the dry Harmattan season.^[6]:p.8

In Nigeria shea butter is used for the management of sinusitis and relief of nasal congestion.^[15] It is also massaged into joints and other parts of the body where pain is experienced.

Classification

The United States Agency for International Development and other companies^[16] have suggested a classification system for shea butter separating it into five grades: A (raw or unrefined, extracted using water), B (refined), C (highly refined and extracted with solvents such as hexane), D (lowest uncontaminated grade), E (with contaminants). Commercial grades are A, B, C. The color of raw (grade A) butter ranges from cream (like whipped butter) to grayish yellow, and it has a nutty aroma which is removed in the other grades. Grade C is pure white^{[citation needed]} While the level of vitamin content can be affected by refining, up to 95% of vitamin content can be removed from refined grades (i.e. grade C) of shea butter while reducing contamination levels to non-detectable levels.

PRICE

$21.00/KG

For more information:

mobile: +2348039721941

contact person: emeaba uche

website: www.franchiseminerals.com

e-mail: emeabau@yahoo.com

TEA TREE OIL LEAF(TTO) OR MELALEUCA ESSENTIAL OIL[MELALEUCA ALTERNIFOLIA]

Listing description

Tea tree oil (TTO), or melaleuca oil, is an essential oil with a fresh camphoraceous odor and a color that ranges from pale yellow to nearly colorless and clear.

Detailed description

 It is taken from the leaves of the Melaleuca alternifolia, which is native to Southeast Queensland and the Northeast coast of New South Wales, Australia.

Tea tree oil is toxic when taken by mouth, but is widely used in low concentrations in cosmetics and skin washes. Tea tree oil has been claimed to be useful for treating a wide variety of medical conditions. It shows some promise as an antimicrobial. Tea tree oil may be effective in a variety of dermatologic conditions including dandruff, acne, lice, herpes, and other skin infections.

History and extraction

The name tea tree is used for several plants, mostly from Australia and New Zealand, from the family Myrtaceae, related to the myrtle. The use of the name probably originated from Captain Cook's description of one of these shrubs, that he used to make an infusion, to drink in place of tea.

The commercial tea tree oil industry originated in the 1920s when Arthur Penfold, an Australian, investigated the business potential of a number of native extracted oils; he reported that tea tree oil had promise as it exhibited powerful antiseptic properties.

Tea tree oil was first extracted from Melaleuca alternifolia in Australia, and this species remains the most important commercially. Several other species are cultivated for their extracted oil: Melaleuca armillaris and Melaleuca styphelioides in Tunisia and Egypt; Melaleuca leucadendron in Egypt, Malaysia and Vietnam; Melaleuca acuminata in Tunisia; Melaleuca ericifolia in Egypt; and Melaleuca quinquenervia in the United States. Similar oils can also be produced by water distillation from Melaleuca linariifolia and Melaleuca dissitiflora.

Composition and characteristics

Tea tree oil is defined by the International Standard ISO 4730 ("Oil of Melaleuca, Terpinen-4-ol type"), which specifies levels of 15 components which are needed to define the oil as "tea tree oil." The oil has been described as having a fresh, camphor-like smell.

Tea tree oils have six types, oils with different chemical compositions. These include a terpinen-4-ol type, a terpinolene type, and four 1,8-cineole types. These various oil types contain over 98 compounds, with terpinen-4-ol the major component responsible for antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory properties. A second component 1,8-cineole, is likely responsible for most allergies in TTO products. Adverse reactions to TTO diminish with minimization of 1,8-cineole content. In commercial production, TTO is prepared as a terpinen-4-ol type.

Medical use

In vitro studies have shown that tea tree oil kills methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), in nasal or extra-nasal (topical) colonisation studies possibly comparable to treatment with mupirocin, but as of 2005 there appeared to be insufficient evidence to recommend it for clinical use. A 2008 article from the American Cancer Society says that studies have found some promise of a possible role for the topical application of tea tree oil as an antiseptic, but that "despite years of use, available clinical evidence does not support the effectiveness of tea tree oil for treating skin problems and infections in humans". A 2012 review by the NIH rates tea tree oil as "possibly effective" for three applications, saying that "a 5% tea tree oil gel appears to be as effective as 5% benzoyl peroxide" for treating mild to moderate acne, that "topical application of 100% tea tree oil solution, twice daily for six months, can cure fungal toenail infection in about 18% of people who try it," and that "a 10% tea tree oil cream works about as well as tolnaftate 1% cream" in treating symptoms of athlete's foot, although being less effective than clotrimazole or terbinafine.

A 2006 review of the toxicity of tea tree oil concludes that it may be used externally in its diluted form by the majority of individuals without adverse effect (provided oxidization is avoided). Tea tree oil is poisonous when taken internally. Tea tree oil may be effective in a variety of dermatologic conditions including dandruff, acne, lice, herpes, and other skin infections. A 2012 review of head lice treatment recommended against the use of tea tree oil on children because it could cause skin irritation or allergic reactions, because of contraindications, and because of a lack of knowledge about the oil's safety and effectiveness.

Safety

Tea tree oil is a commercially refined composition of several naturally occurring chemical compounds and is hazardous if misused. Available literature suggests that tea tree oil can be used topically in diluted form by the majority of individuals without adverse effects. Topical application of tea tree oil can cause adverse reactions at high concentration. Adverse effects including skin irritation, allergic contact dermatitis, systemic contact dermatitis, linear immunoglobulin A disease, erythema multiforme like reactions, and systemic hypersensitivity reactions.

Tea tree oil is toxic when swallowed. According to the American Cancer Society, ingesting tea tree oil has been reported to cause drowsiness, confusion, hallucinations, coma, unsteadiness, weakness, vomiting, diarrhea, stomach upset, blood cell abnormalities, and severe rashes. It should be kept away from pets and children. Tea tree oil should not be used in or around the mouth. There is at least one case of poisoning reported in medical literature.

Exposure of tea tree oil to air and light results in oxidation of some of its components. Oxidized tea tree oil should not be used. Some people experience allergic contact dermatitis as a reaction to dermal contact with tea tree oil. Allergic reactions may be due to the various oxidation products that are formed by exposure of the oil to light and/or air.

In vitro testing of tea tree oil shows that it contains chemicals which are weakly estrogenic, causing particular concern for use with children. However, in tests, the chemicals which show this effect failed to show absorption into the skin, and evidence of a hormonal effect is therefore considered implausible by an EU scientific committee

In dogs and cats, death or transient signs of toxicity (lasting 2 to 3 days), such as depression, weakness, incoordination and muscle tremors, have been reported after external application at high doses. In rats the LD50 is 1.9–2.4 ml/kg.

Undiluted tea tree oil can cause some hearing loss when used in the ears of non-human animals; however, a 2% concentration has not been shown to have any lasting effect. It is not known whether the same is true for humans.

PRICE

$169.01/KG/LITRE

For more information:

mobile: +2348039721941

contact person: emeaba uche

e-mail: emeabau@yahoo.com

website: www.franchiseminerals.com