Grades of Unrefined Shea Butter

The United States Agency for International Development, Gassel Consulting, and many other companies have suggested a classification system for shea butter.The grading scale has been established by the American Shea Butter Institute in an effort to provide uniformity in an industry  which was lacking any means of quality control or standards. The scale is based on scientific evaluation of unsaponifiables times the Vitamin A content divided by the percentage of free fatty acids times the peroxide count.

Raw Shea Butter has been classified into 5 grades. A, B, C, D & F
When chemical analysis is done, the grade is determined by the presence or absence of various nutrients. Grade A is the highest and best quality for cosmetics and personal industry (American Shea Butter Institute)
Grade A: Premium (Raw, Unrefined)
Grade B: Less active nutrients than Grade A
Grade C: Refined
Grade D: Highly Refined (missing most of the valuable nutrients)
Grade F: Contaminated. Not fit for human used 

Grade A contains the most vitamin A and F than any other grade and has most healing properties.



Sources:
Wikipedia-Shea Butter
http://raw-sheabutter.com/