The study was carried out at the University for Development Studies Nyankpala  Ghana and the pharmaconosy laboratory of the Kwame Nkrumah University Science and Technology Ghana. The objective of the study was to compare the chemical composition of inorganic and organic shea butter to determine which one is good for both the local and international markets. The treatments were organic shea butter and inorganic shea butter.

These treatments were arrange in a complete randomized design and were replicated two times for laboratory studies of free fatty acids, pH, peroxide value, insoluble impurities, unsaponifiable matter, and moisture content. Phenolphthalein, pH meter, conical flask, shea butter, potassium hydroxide, alcohol, oven were some of the materials used.

The study revealed that organic shea butter had lower FFA, moisture content, pH, unsaponifiable matter, insoluble impurities and peroxide value as compared to inorganic shea butter shea butter.

The study also revealed that FFA value of organic shea butter indicates that it can be used for the cosmetic and pharmaceutical industry and for direct consumption (Ghana Standard Authority, 2006) and hence the lower the FFA the higher the quality for both the local and international markets.

The study also revealed that there was a positive relationship between; unsaponifiable matter and moisture content (r=0.9826; p< 0.05). Insoluble impurities had very strong correlations with unsaponifiable matter (r= 0.9936; p <0.01) and moisture content (r= 0.9629; p< 0.05). A very strong positive correlation was observed between peroxide value and unsaponifiable matter (r = 0.9962; p < 0.01), moisture content (r = 0.9661; p < 0.05), and insoluble impurities (r = 0.9994; p < 0.001).