What is kokum butter?+
Kokum butter is the fat pressed from the kernel of Garcinia indica, a tree native to the Western Ghats of India. Published typical values put stearic acid around 70–75% and oleic around 15–20%, with a melt point near 37–40°C — close to skin temperature. It is among the hardest natural butters yet melts cleanly on contact, which is why formulators use it where shea would feel heavy.
Is kokum butter a cocoa butter equivalent?+
Kokum is one of the classic cocoa butter equivalent feedstocks. Its value comes from a narrow, uniform triacylglycerol profile dominated by SOS (stearic–oleic–stearic), which is what gives cocoa butter its snap and melt curve. Published research on kokum as a cocoa butter extender reports SOS content around 70%, supporting partial replacement of cocoa butter in chocolate.
What is a non-palm CBE, and why does it matter?+
A cocoa butter equivalent is a fat engineered to match cocoa butter's melt and crystallisation behaviour. Most commercial CBE relies on palm mid-fraction, which carries deforestation and EUDR compliance exposure. A non-palm CBE built from Indian tree-borne fats — kokum, sal and mango kernel stearins — reaches a comparable SOS profile without palm in the supply chain.
Kokum butter or shea butter — which should I use?+
They solve different problems. Shea is softer, higher in oleic and unsaponifiables, and gives a rich, occlusive feel. Kokum is much harder, higher in stearic, and melts more sharply with a drier afterfeel. Formulators commonly use kokum to replace part of the shea in a balm or body butter to lighten texture and add structure without palm wax.
What is the difference between a stearin and an olein?+
Dry fractionation splits a butter by controlled crystallisation into two fractions with no solvent and no hydrogenation. The stearin is the hard, high-melt fraction used for structure and CBE applications. The olein is the liquid, high-oleic fraction used as a light emollient. One butter becomes two commercially distinct lipids.
