African black soap, or black soap (also known by various local names such as ''ose dudu'', ''sabulun salo'', and ''ncha nkota''), is a kind of soap originating in West Africa. It is made from the ash of locally harvested African plants and dried peels, which gives the soap its characteristic dark colour. Black soap has become a popular toiletry product in North America. In West Africa, especially Ghana, black soap is often made by women using traditional recipes and is often exported through

fair trade Fair trade is an arrangement designed to help producers in developing countries achieve sustainable and equitable trade relationships. The fair trade movement combines the payment of higher prices to exporters with improved social and enviro ...

groups. Black soap, known as ''ose-dudu'' originated with the Yoruba people of Nigeria. A combination of ''ose-dudu'' with leaves of the tropical camwood tree (''Pterocarpus osun'') produces a popular kind of soap with exfoliating properties called ''dudu-osun''. Other varieties from other cultures include ''sabulun salo'', ''ncha nkota.'' Black soap has been found to have some antimicrobial properties against skin microbiota such as ''

Staphylococcus aureus ''Staphylococcus aureus'' is a Gram-positive spherically shaped bacterium, a member of the Bacillota, and is a usual member of the microbiota of the body, frequently found in the upper respiratory tract and on the skin. It is often positive ...

, Escherichia coli ''and'' Candida albicans.''

Production

Plant matter, such as plantain skins, palm tree leaves, cocoa pods and

shea tree ''Vitellaria paradoxa'' (formerly ''Butyrospermum parkii''), commonly known as shea tree, shi tree (), or vitellaria, is a tree of the family Sapotaceae. It is the only species in the genus ''Vitellaria'',ash (which supplies the

alkali In chemistry, an alkali (; from ar, القلوي, al-qaly, lit=ashes of the saltwort) is a basic, ionic salt of an alkali metal or an alkaline earth metal. An alkali can also be defined as a base that dissolves in water. A solution of a ...

required to convert or

saponify Saponification is a process of converting esters into soaps and alcohols by the action of aqueous alkali (for example, aqueous sodium hydroxide solutions). Soaps are salts of fatty acids, which in turn are carboxylic acids with long carbon chains. ...

the oils and fats). Next, water and various oils and fats, such as

coconut oil frameless , right , alt = A cracked coconut and a bottle of coconut oil Coconut oil (or coconut butter) is an edible oil derived from the wick, meat, and milk of the coconut palm fruit. Coconut oil is a white solid fat; in warmer climates duri ...

palm oil Palm oil is an edible vegetable oil derived from the mesocarp (reddish pulp) of the fruit of the oil palms. The oil is used in food manufacturing, in beauty products, and as biofuel. Palm oil accounted for about 33% of global oils produced from ...

, and

shea butter Shea butter (, , or ; ) is a fat extracted from yellow the nut of the African shea tree (''Vitellaria paradoxa''). It is ivory in color when raw and commonly dyed yellow with borututu root or palm oil. It is widely used in cosmetics as a moi ...

, are added to the ash. The mixture is cooked and hand-stirred for at least 24 hours. After the soap solidifies, it is scooped out and set out to cure.

References

Soaps Acne treatments {{product-stub