Kokum, mango and sal butter vs shea: a sourcing guide for cosmetics
By the IndoFolk Wellness Care Team | Last reviewed October 2026
Quick answer: Kokum, mango and sal butters are Indian seed fats dominated by stearic and oleic acids, like shea. Kokum is the hardest, with a narrow melting point near 40 °C, which suits balms and sticks. Mango kernel fat melts at about 32–36 °C and feels softer on skin. Sal is a stearic-rich structuring fat. Shea stands apart for its high unsaponifiable content. Buy on a specification, not a name: fatty-acid profile, slip melting point, free fatty acids and grade.
Cosmetic brands that rely on shea alone are looking at Indian butters for texture, story and supply diversity. The demand signal is real: India's imports of mango and mahua fats (HS 15159040) rose 160% to ₹151 crore in FY2024-25, while India exported about ₹205 crore of the same category (DGCI&S trade data, FY2024-25). This guide compares the four butters on the numbers a formulator and a QA lead actually need.
What are kokum, mango and sal butter?
All three are fats pressed or extracted from seed kernels of trees that grow in India:
Kokum butter comes from the seeds of Garcinia indica, an Indian fruit tree. INCI: Garcinia Indica Seed Butter.
Mango butter (mango kernel fat) comes from the kernels of Mangifera indica fruit stones. INCI: Mangifera Indica Seed Butter.
Sal butter comes from the seeds of Shorea robusta, a major Indian forest tree. INCI: Shorea Robusta Seed Butter.
Shea butter, the benchmark, comes from the West African shea tree. INCI: Butyrospermum Parkii Butter.
All four INCI names appear in the EU's CosIng cosmetic ingredient database, so the labelling route for EU and UK products is straightforward. All four are also on the short list of six non-cocoa vegetable fats permitted in chocolate under EU Directive 2000/36/EC. That matters for buyers: you compete with the confectionery industry for the same raw material.
How do their melting points and fatty acids compare?
Each butter is a natural mixture of triglycerides, so published values vary by origin, season and processing. The ranges below come from reference and review sources; your supplier's CoA is what counts.
Butter | Main fatty acids (reported ranges) | Melting behaviour | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
Kokum | Stearic 38–56%, oleic 30–53% | Sharp melting point, 39.5–40 °C | PROSEA |
Mango kernel | Oleic about 45%; stearic 37.5% in one cited analysis | Melting point 32–36 °C | Nadeem et al., 2016 review |
Sal | Stearic 35–45%, oleic 38–45% | No reliable published range found; ask for slip melting point | Thapa et al., 2025 review |
Shea | Oleic 34–62%, stearic 25–55.7% | 35–40 °C (Codex shea standard, as tabulated in review) | Goumbri et al. review |
What this means in a formula:
Kokum has the highest and sharpest melting point of the Indian three. It is solid at room temperature and holds shape in lip balms, solid lotion bars and sticks.
Mango kernel fat melts close to skin temperature. It suits body butters and creams where a softer, faster-melting texture is wanted.
Sal is stearic-rich and similar in profile to mango. Reviews describe it as functionally close to cocoa butter, which makes it a structuring fat for balms and bars.
Shea has a wide fatty-acid range, so two shea lots can behave very differently. Its distinctive feature is the unsaponifiable fraction (reported at 5–7% in the review, with triterpene alcohols the main component), which is part of its appeal in skin care.
Raw or refined: which grade should you buy?
Indian seed butters are typically offered in two broad grades. Neither is "better"; they serve different products.
Grade | What it is | Typical buyer | What to check |
|---|---|---|---|
Raw / unrefined | Pressed or extracted, filtered, not deodorised | Natural and "minimally processed" positioning | Odour and colour variation lot to lot; free fatty acids; peroxide value; microbial limits |
Refined (RBD) | Refined, bleached and deodorised | Mass-market creams and colour-sensitive formulas | Process declaration; residual solvent statement if solvent-extracted; stability data |
Practical points:
Ask how the fat was obtained. Seed fats can be expeller-pressed or solvent-extracted. If solvent-extracted, request the solvent used and a residual solvent result.
Do not mix grades across lots. A switch from refined to unrefined will change colour, odour and possibly texture in your finished product.
Organic claims need documents. If you sell an organic product, the certificate must cover the specific lot and the operator who processed it.
What should be on the specification sheet?
Agree these parameters in writing before the first purchase order. The values will differ by butter and grade; the point is that each one is tested and reported on every CoA.
Botanical name and INCI name, plus plant part (seed or kernel)
Fatty-acid profile by GC (at least palmitic, stearic, oleic, linoleic)
Slip melting point or melting range, with method
Acid value or free fatty acids
Peroxide value
Iodine value and saponification value
Unsaponifiable matter (especially if you are replacing shea)
Moisture and impurities
Heavy metals and pesticide residues against your market's limits
Colour and odour description, with a retained reference sample
Country of origin, lot number, manufacturing and best-before dates
Our guide to testing Ayurvedic ingredients and reading a CoA covers how to check that a CoA is genuine and lot-specific.
How reliable is supply from India?
These are forest and orchard by-products, not plantation crops, so volumes depend on collection and fruit seasons.
Kokum is a small-volume butter. PROSEA reference data put India's annual kokum seed output at about 500 tonnes, producing about 200 tonnes of butter. Plan forward contracts and keep safety stock.
Mango kernel fat depends on kernels recovered after the mango season and processing. India both imports and exports this category: imports reached ₹151 crore (+160%) against exports of about ₹205 crore in FY2024-25 (DGCI&S trade data, FY2024-25). Ask your supplier whether a lot is Indian-origin or imported and re-processed, because origin claims on your label depend on it.
Sal is collected from forest trees; reviews note that much of it still goes to non-food uses such as animal feed and biodiesel, so cosmetic-grade lots need careful selection.
Because all four fats are also used as cocoa butter alternatives, confectionery demand can tighten availability. Lock in specifications and approved backup suppliers early.
Can Indian butters replace shea in a formula?
Sometimes, but not one-for-one.
For texture, a kokum or sal blend can firm up a stick or balm that currently uses shea plus wax. Mango kernel fat can replace part of the shea in a body butter for a lighter feel.
For claims, if your marketing relies on shea's unsaponifiable fraction, a substitute will not carry the same story. Keep shea, or test and support any new claim independently.
For stability, run accelerated stability tests on the reformulated product. Crystallisation (graininess) can appear when the fat blend changes.
Make one change at a time, document it in your product information file, and repeat your safety assessment where your market requires it.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between kokum butter and shea butter?
Both are stearic- and oleic-rich seed fats. Kokum butter has a narrow, high melting point near 40 °C, so it stays solid at room temperature and suits sticks and balms. Shea butter's fatty-acid profile varies widely between lots, and it is known for a high unsaponifiable fraction. Kokum comes from India; shea comes from West Africa.
Is mango butter the same as mango kernel fat?
In trade, yes. Mango butter is the fat obtained from the kernels inside mango stones. Its INCI name is Mangifera Indica Seed Butter. Published reviews give a melting point of about 32–36 °C, with oleic and stearic acids as the main fatty acids. It is sold in refined and unrefined grades.
Should I buy refined or unrefined kokum butter?
Choose unrefined if your brand positions on minimal processing and you can accept natural variation in colour and odour. Choose refined (deodorised) if your formula is colour- or fragrance-sensitive. In both cases, ask how the fat was extracted and get a lot-specific CoA with fatty-acid profile, free fatty acids and peroxide value.
What specifications should a cosmetic butter CoA include?
At minimum: botanical and INCI name, fatty-acid profile by GC, slip melting point, acid value or free fatty acids, peroxide value, iodine and saponification values, unsaponifiable matter, moisture, heavy metals and pesticide residues against your market's limits, plus lot number and dates.
Work With IndoFolk Wellness
IndoFolk Wellness is a New Delhi sourcing and export coordination partner. We do not own factories; we help you shortlist vetted Indian processors, arrange samples, check documentation and coordinate export shipping. Request samples or a specification sheet for kokum, mango or sal butter.
Related Reading
Sources
Garcinia indica (kokam), PROSEA – Plant Resources of South-East Asia
Nadeem M, Imran M, Khalique A. Promising features of mango (Mangifera indica L.) kernel oil: a review. Journal of Food Science and Technology, 2016, 53(5):2185–2195
Thapa et al. Sal (Shorea robusta) seed oil: a sustainable alternative for cocoa butter and edible oil. Future Foods, 2025, 11:100655
This article is general information, not legal, regulatory or veterinary advice.
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