Você está na página 1de 16

Cashew

Cashew

Ripe cashew fruit


Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Plantae
(unranked):
Angiosperms
(unranked):
Eudicots
(unranked):
Rosids
Order:
Sapindales
Family:
Anacardiaceae
Genus:
Anacardium
Species:

A. occidentale
Binomial name
Anacardium occidentale

L.
The cashew tree (Anacardium occidentale) is a tropical evergreen tree that
produces the cashew seed and the cashew apple.
It can grow as high as 14 metres (46ft), but the dwarf cashew, growing up
to 6 metres (20ft), has proved more profitable, with earlier maturity and
higher yields.
The cashew seed, often simply called a cashew, is widely consumed. It is
eaten on its own, used in recipes, or processed into cashew cheese or

cashew butter. The cashew apple is a light reddish to yellow fruit, whose
pulp can be processed into a sweet, astringent fruit drink or distilled into
liquor.
The shell of the cashew seed yields derivatives that can be used in many
applications from lubricants to paints, and other parts of the tree have
traditionally been used for snake-bites and other folk remedies.
Originally native to northeastern Brazil, the tree is now widely cultivated in
Vietnam, Nigeria and India as major production countries.[1]
Contents [hide]

H
a
b
C
i
P
E
a
t
r
t
s
a
o
y
h
t
d
m
e
a
u
o 2
3 w 4
5
n
c
l
"
d
t
o
n
g
i
g
u
r
o
y
t
o
n
"
w
t
h
External links

C
F
a
u
C
s
R
r
N
C
a
h
e
t
u
A
a
s
A
S
e
f
h
t
l
s
h
l
e
w
e
e
r 5 l
h 6
e 7 c
e
s
r 1 r 1
i . e 6 e .
7 w . o 8 a 9
h
e 0 r 1
t 1 r
w 1
a 1 h
l
e
n
e
i
g
o
p
o
s
l
c
a
o
y
i
p
l
o
l
e
d
n
l
l
o
s
i
e
i
n
l
g

Etymology[edit]

Its English name derives from the Portuguese name for the fruit of the
cashew tree caju (Portuguese pronunciation: [kau]), which itself is derived
from the indigenous Tupian name acaj, literally meaning "nut that
produces itself".[2] The name Anacardium, originally from the Greek, refers
to the unusual location of the seed outside the core or heart of the fruit (ana
means "without" and -cardium means "heart").

Habitat and growth[edit]

'Anacardium occidentale', from Koehler's 'Medicinal-Plants' (1887)


The cashew tree is large and evergreen, growing to 1012m (~32ft) tall,
with a short, often irregularly shaped trunk. The leaves are spirally
arranged, leathery textured, elliptic to obovate, 4 to 22cm long and 2 to
15cm broad, with smooth margins. The flowers are produced in a panicle
or corymb up to 26cm long; each flower is small, pale green at first, then
turning reddish, with five slender, acute petals 7 to 15mm long. The largest
cashew tree in the world covers an area of about 7,500 square metres
(81,000sqft); it is located in Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil.
The fruit of the cashew tree is an accessory fruit (sometimes called a
pseudocarp or false fruit). What appears to be the fruit is an oval or pearshaped structure, a hypocarpium, that develops from the pedicel and the
receptacle of the cashew flower.[3] Called the cashew apple, better known
in Central America as maran, it ripens into a yellow and/or red structure
about 511cm long. It is edible, and has a strong "sweet" smell and a
sweet taste. The pulp of the cashew apple is very juicy, but the skin is
fragile, making it unsuitable for transport. In Latin America, a fruit drink is
made from the cashew apple pulp which has a very refreshing taste and
tropical flavor that can be described as having notes of mango, raw green
pepper, and just a little hint of grapefruit-like citrus.

Flower of cashew tree

Cashew tree
The true fruit of the cashew tree is a kidney or boxing-glove shaped drupe
that grows at the end of the cashew apple. The drupe develops first on the
tree, and then the pedicel expands to become the cashew apple. Within the
true fruit is a single seed, which is often considered a nut, in the culinary
sense. The seed is surrounded by a double shell containing an allergenic
phenolic resin, anacardic acid, a potent skin irritant chemically related to
the better-known allergenic oil urushiol which is also a toxin found in the
related poison ivy. Properly roasting cashews destroys the toxin, but it must
be done outdoors as the smoke (not unlike that from burning poison ivy)
contains urushiol droplets which can cause severe, sometimes lifethreatening, reactions by irritating the lungs. People who are allergic to
cashew (or poison ivy) urushiols may cross-react to mango or pistachio
which are also in the Anacardiaceae family. Some people are allergic to
cashews, but cashews are a less frequent allergen than tree nuts or
peanuts.[4]
While the cashew plant is native to northeast Brazil, the Portuguese took it
to Goa, India, between 1560 and 1565. From there it spread throughout
Southeast Asia and eventually Africa.[5]

Cashew "nut"[edit]

Young cashew seeds

Cashews as a snack
Botanically speaking, cashew are not actually nuts but merely seeds.
Culinary uses for cashew seeds are similar to uses for nuts, however, and
the seeds are frequently referred to as nuts. Cashews, unlike oily tree nuts,
contain starch to about 10% of their weight. This makes them more
effective than nuts in thickening water-based dishes such as soups, meat
stews, and some Indian milk-based desserts. Many Southeast Asian
cuisines use cashews for this unusual characteristic, rather than other nuts.
[6]
The shell of the cashew nut is toxic, which is why the nut is never sold in
the shell to consumers.[7]
Cashew nuts are commonly used in Indian cuisine, whole for garnishing
sweets or curries, or ground into a paste that forms a base of sauces for
curries (e.g., korma), or some sweets (e.g., kaju barfi). It is also used in
powdered form in the preparation of several Indian sweets and desserts. In
Goan cuisine, both roasted and raw kernels are used whole for making
curries and sweets.

Cashew sprouts (above) are eaten raw as well as cooked


The cashew nut can also be harvested in its tender form, when the shell
has not hardened and is green in color. The shell is soft and can be cut
with a knife and the kernel extracted, but it is already corrosive at this
stage, so gloves are required. The kernel can be soaked in turmeric water
to get rid of the corrosive material before use. Cashew nuts are also used
in Thai and Chinese cuisine, generally in whole form.
In the Philippines, cashew is a known product of Antipolo, and is eaten with
suman. Pampanga also has a sweet dessert called turrones de casuy,
which is cashew marzipan wrapped in white wafers.
In Indonesia, roasted and salted cashew nut is called kacang mete or
kacang mede, while the cashew apple is called jambu monyet (literally
means monkey rose apple).
In Mozambique, bolo polana is a cake prepared using powdered cashews
and mashed potatoes as the main ingredients. This dessert is popular in
[8]
South Africa, too.
South American countries have developed their own specialties. In Brazil,
the cashew fruit juice is popular all across the country. In Panama, the
cashew fruit is cooked with water and sugar for a prolonged time to make a
sweet, brown, paste-like dessert called dulce de maran. Maran is one
of the Spanish names for cashew.

Production[edit]

Top 5 Countries for Production of


Cashew Nuts (with shell) in 2013
Country

Production
MT (metric tons)

Vietnam

1,110,800

Nigeria

950,000

India

753,000

Cte d'Ivoire

450,000

Benin

180,000

World Total

4,439,960

Source: Food & Agriculture Organization[1]

Cte d'Ivoire

450,000

Benin

180,000

World Total

4,439,960

Source: Food & Agriculture Organization[1]

Cashew nuts being inspected after harvest


Cashew nuts are produced in tropical countries because the tree is frost
sensitive, adapting to various climatic regions between the latitudes of 25N
[9]
and 25S. The traditional cashew tree is tall (up to 14m) and takes three
years from planting before it starts production, and eight years before
economic harvests can begin. More recent breeds, such as the dwarf
cashew trees, are up to 6m tall, and start producing after the first year, with
economic yields after three years. The cashew nut yields for the traditional
tree are about 0.25 metric tons per hectare, in contrast to over a ton per
hectare for the dwarf variety. Grafting and other modern tree management
technologies are used to further improve and sustain cashew nut yields in
[5]
commercial orchards.
In 2013, the world total for production of cashew nuts (in shells) was 4.4
[1]
million metric tons. Vietnam was the world's largest individual producer in
2013 with 1.1 million tons.[1] As of 2014, rapid growth of cashew cultivation
in Cte d'Ivoire made this country the top African producer with nearly
[10]
500,000 tons.
Fluctuations in world market prices, poor working conditions and low pay
[11]
for local harvesting have caused discontent in the cashew nut industry.
[12][13]

Nutrition[edit]
Cashews, raw
Nutritional value per 100g (3.5oz)
Energy
553kcal (2,310kJ)
Carbohydrates
Starch
Sugars
lactose

30.19 g
0.74 g
5.91 g
0.00 g

Dietary fiber

3.3 g

Fat

43.85 g

Energy

553kcal (2,310kJ)

Carbohydrates
Starch
Sugars
lactose

30.19 g
0.74 g
5.91 g
0.00 g

Dietary fiber

3.3 g

Fat

43.85 g

Saturated
Monounsaturated
Polyunsaturated

7.783 g
23.797 g
7.845 g

Protein

18.22 g

Vitamins
Vitamin A

0 IU

Thiamine (B1)

(37%)
0.423 mg

Riboflavin (B2)

(5%)
0.058 mg
(7%)
1.062 mg
(17%)
0.86 mg

Niacin (B3)
Pantothenic acid(B5)
Vitamin B6

(32%)
0.417 mg

Folate (B9)

(6%)
25 g
(0%)
0 g
(1%)
0.5 mg

Vitamin B12
Vitamin C
Vitamin D
Vitamin E
Vitamin K

Minerals

(0%)
0 g
(6%)
0.90 mg
(32%)
34.1 g

Vitamin D
Vitamin E
Vitamin K

Minerals
Calcium
Iron
Magnesium
Manganese
Phosphorus
Potassium
Sodium

(0%)
0 g
(6%)
0.90 mg
(32%)
34.1 g

(4%)
37 mg
(51%)
6.68 mg
(82%)
292 mg
(79%)
1.66 mg
(85%)
593 mg
(14%)
660 mg
(1%)
12 mg
(61%)
5.78 mg

Zinc

Other constituents
Water

5.20 g

Link to Full USDA Database entry


Units
g = micrograms mg = milligrams
IU = International units
Percentages are roughly approximated using
USrecommendations for adults.
Source: USDA Nutrient Database
In a 100 gram serving, raw cashews provide 553 calories, 67% of the Daily
Value (DV) in total fats, 36% DV of protein, 13% DV of dietary fiber and
[14]
11% DV of carbohydrates (table).
Cashews are rich sources (> 19%

DV) of dietary minerals, including particularly copper, manganese,


phosphorus and magnesium (79-110% DV), and of thiamin, vitamin B6 and
[14]
vitamin K (32-37% DV) (table).
Iron, potassium, zinc and selenium are
present in significant content (14-61% DV) (table).[14] Cashews (100
[14]
grams, raw) contain 113mg of beta-sitosterol.
Allergy[edit]
For some 5% of people, cashews, like tree nuts, can lead to complications
[15][16][17]
or allergic reactions.
Cashews contain gastric and intestinal
soluble oxalates, albeit less than tree nuts; people with a tendency to form
[18]
kidney stones may need moderation and medical guidance.
Allergies to
tree nuts and cashews can be life-threatening or even fatal; prompt medical
[16]
attention is necessary if tree nut allergy reaction is observed.
These
allergies are triggered by the proteins found in tree nuts, and cooking often
does not remove or change these proteins. Reactions to cashew and tree
nuts can also occur as a consequence of hidden nut ingredients or traces
of nuts that may inadvertently be introduced during food processing,
handling or manufacturing, particularly in Europe.[15][16]

Cashew oil[edit]

Cashew oil is a dark yellow oil for cooking or salad dressing pressed from
cashew nuts (typically broken chunks created during processing). This may
[19]
be produced from a single cold pressing.
Cashew shell oil[edit]
See also: Urushiol
Cashew nutshell liquid (CNSL) or cashew shell oil (CAS registry
number 8007-24-7) is a natural resin with a yellowish sheen found in the
honeycomb structure of the cashew nutshell, and is a byproduct of
processing cashew nuts. It is a raw material of multiple uses in developing
drugs, antioxidants, fungicides, etc. It is used in tropical folk medicine and
[20]
for anti-termite treatment of timber.
Its composition varies depending on
how it is processed.
Cold, solvent extracted CNSL is mostly composed of anacardic acids
[21]
[22]
(70%),
cardol (18%) and cardanol (5%).
Heating CNSL decarboxylates the anacardic acids, producing a
technical grade of CNSL that is rich in cardanol. Distillation of this

material gives distilled, technical CNSL containing 78% cardanol and


[22]
8% cardol (cardol has one more hydroxyl group than cardanol).
This process also reduces the degree of thermal polymerization of
the unsaturated alkyl-phenols present in cashew nutshell liquid.
Anacardic acid is also used in the chemical industry for the
production of cardanol, which is used for resins, coatings, and
[21][22]
frictional materials.
These substances are skin allergens, like the oils of poison ivy, and present
[20]
danger during manual cashew processing.
This natural oil phenol has been found to have interesting chemical
structural features which enable a range of chemical modifications to create
a wide spectrum of bio-based monomers capitalizing on the chemically
versatile construct, containing three different functional groups: the
aromatic ring, the hydroxyl group and the double bonds in the flanking alkyl
chain. These can be split into key groups, used as polyols, which have
recently seen a dramatic increase in demand for their bio-based origin and
key chemical attributes such as high reactivity, range of functionalities,
reduction in blowing agents and naturally occurring fire retardant properties
in the field of ridged polyurethanes aided by their inherent phenolic
structure and larger number of reactive units per unit mass.
Cashew shell oil may be used as a resin for carbon composite products.
[23] CNSL-based Novolac is another versatile industrial monomer deriving
from cardanol typically used as a reticulating agent for epoxy matrices in
composite applications providing good thermal and mechanical properties
to the final composite material.

Cashew apple[edit]

This section needs additional citations for


verification. Please help improve this article
by adding citations to reliable sources.
Unsourced material may be challenged and
removed. (April 2013)

Cashew apple with nut

Cashew apples for sale


The cashew apple, also called cashew fruit, is the fleshy part of the cashew
fruit that is attached to the cashew nut. The top end of the cashew apple is
attached to the stem that comes off the tree. The bottom end of the cashew
apple attaches to the cashew nut, which is encased in a shell. In botanical
terms, the cashew apple is an accessory fruit that grows on the cashew
seed (which is the nut).
The cashew apple is a soft fruit, rich in nutrients, and contains five times
more vitamin C than an orange. It can be eaten fresh, cooked in curries, or
fermented into vinegar, as well as an alcoholic drink. It is also used to make
preserves, chutneys, and jams in some countries such as India and Brazil.
In many countries, particularly in South America, the cashew apple is used
to flavor drinks, both alcoholic and nonalcoholic.
Cashew nuts are more popular than cashew apples in many parts of the
world that do not grow cashews, because the fruit, unlike the nut, is difficult

[24]
to transport.
Cashew apple juice, however, may be used for
[24]
manufacturing blended juices.
Cashew apples have a sweet but astringent taste traced to the waxy layer
on the skin that contains a chemical, urushiol, which can cause minor skin
[citation needed]
irritation to areas that have had contact with it.
In cultures
that consume cashew apples, this astringency is sometimes removed by
steaming the fruit for five minutes before washing it in cold water;
alternatively, boiling the fruit in salt water for five minutes or soaking it in
[6][25]
gelatin solution also reduces the astringency.
Alcohol[edit]
In Goa, the cashew apple (the accessory fruit) is mashed and the juice
extracted and kept for fermentation for a few days. Fermented juice then
undergoes a double distillation process. The resulting beverage is called
feni or fenny. Feni is about 40-42% alcohol. The single-distilled version is
called urrac, which is about 15% alcohol.
In the southern region of Mtwara, Tanzania, the cashew apple (bibo in
Swahili) is dried and saved. Later it is reconstituted with water and
fermented, then distilled to make a strong liquor often referred to by the
generic name, gongo.
In Mozambique, cashew farmers commonly make a strong liquor from the
cashew apple, agua ardente (burning water).
[26]
According to one source,
an alcohol had been distilled in the early 20th
century from the juice of the fruit, and was manufactured in the West
Indies.

See also[edit]

Cajuina
Cashew shelling machine
List of culinary nuts
Semecarpus anacardium (the Oriental Anacardium) is a native of
India and is closely related to the cashew.

References[edit]
1

^ Jump up to:
a b c d "Major Food And Agricultural Commodities And Producers
Countries By Commodity". Fao.org. 2013. Retrieved 6 September
2015.

8
9

10

11

12

13

Jump up
^ "Caju, identidade tropical que exala sade Embrapa".
Embrapa.br. Retrieved 2012-12-22.
Jump up
^ Varghese, T.; Pundir, Y. (1964). "Anatomy of the pseudocarp in
Anacardium occidentale L.". Proceedings: Plant Sciences 59 (5):
252258.
Jump up
^ Rosen, T.; Fordice, D. B. (April 1994). "Cashew Nut Dermatitis".
Southern Medical Journal 87 (4): 543546. doi:
10.1097/00007611-199404000-00026. PMID8153790. Retrieved
2011-01-13.
^ Jump up to:
ab
"Cajucultura historia (in Portuguese)". Retrieved February 2,
2010.
^ Jump up to:
ab
Harold McGee (2004). On food and cooking (See Nuts and Other
Oil-rich Seeds chapter). Scribner. ISBN978-0-684-80001-1.
Jump up
^ "Glossary C-G". www.joyofbaking.com. iFood Media LLC. Archived
from the original on 2014-03-27.
Jump up
^ Phillippa Cheifitz (2009). South Africa Eats.
Jump up
^ "Cultivating Cashew Nuts". ARC-Institute for Tropical and
Subtropical Crops, South Africa. Retrieved February 15, 2015.
Jump up
^ Bavier, Joe (29 October 2014). "War-scarred Ivory Coast aims to
conquer the world of cashews". Reuters. Retrieved 9 February 2015.
Jump up
^ "Tanzania riots over cashew nut payments". BBC. 24 April 2013.
Retrieved 14 May 2013.
Jump up
^ Lamble L (2 November 2013). "Cashew nut workers suffer
'appalling' conditions as global slump dents profits". The Guardian.
Retrieved 6 September 2015.
Jump up
^ Wilson B (4 May 2015). "'Blood cashews': the toxic truth about your

14

15

16

17

18

19
20

21

22

23

favourite nut". The Telegraph. Retrieved 6 September 2015.


^ Jump up to:
abcd
"Full Report (All Nutrients): 12087, Nuts, cashew nuts, raw,
database version SR 27". Agricultural Research Service United
States Department of Agriculture. 2015. Retrieved 6 August 2015.
^ Jump up to:
ab
McWilliam V, Koplin J, Lodge C, Tang M, Dharmage S, Allen K
(2015). "The prevalence of tree nut allergy: a systematic review". Curr
Allergy Asthma Rep 15 (9): 555. doi:10.1007/s11882-015-0555-8.
PMID26233427.
^ Jump up to:
abc
"Cashew Allergies". Informall Database funded by European
Union. 2010.
Jump up
^ "Food Allergies INFOSAN" (PDF). World Health Organization.
2006.
Jump up
^ Rittera; et al. (May 2007). "Soluble and insoluble oxalate content of
nuts". Journal of Food Composition and Analysis 20 (34): 169174.
doi:10.1016/j.jfca.2006.12.001.
Jump up
^ "Cashew Oil". Smart Kitchen. Retrieved February 15, 2015.
^ Jump up to:
ab
"World Agriculture and the Environment", by Jason W. Clay, p.
268
^ Jump up to:
ab
Alexander H. Tullo (September 8, 2008). "A Nutty Chemical".
Chemical and Engineering News 86 (36): 2627. doi:10.1021/cenv086n033.p026.
^ Jump up to:
abc
"Exposure and Use Data for Cashew Nut Shell Liquid" (PDF).
United States Environmental Protection Agency. Retrieved
2012-01-12.
Jump up
^ Ferri, Enrico (22 May 2011). "Bioresins Derived from Cashew
Nutshell Oil". MaterialsToday. Retrieved 7 September 2011.

24 ^ Jump up to:
ab
Strom, Stephanie (2014-08-08). "Cashew Juice, the Apple of
Pepsis Eye". The New York Times. ISSN0362-4331. Retrieved
2015-11-24.
25 Jump up
^ Azam-Ali and Judge (2004). Small-scale cashew nut processing.
FAO, United Nations.
26 Jump up
^ Percival, Robert (1803). An Account of the Island of Ceylon: Its
History, Geography , Natural History, with the Manners and Customs
of its various Inhabitants. London: C. & R. Baldwin. Retrieved 9
February 2015.

Further reading[edit]

Klaus von Freyhold: The cashew sector in Ghana, in: Hans-Heinrich


Bass (Hrsg.): Promoting the Production of Cashew, Shea, and
Indigenous Fruits in West Africa, ITD Annual Report Supplement 2,
2013, pp.1318
Morton, Julia F. Fruits of Warm Temperatures. ISBN
978-0-9610184-1-2 [1]. Cashew Apple. pp.239240.[2]
Pillai, Rajmohan and Santha, P. The World Cashew Industry (Rajan
Pillai Foundation, Kollam, 2008).nm.
Morton, J. F. (2003). "Cashew nuts and cashew apples".
Encyclopedia of Food Sciences and Nutrition. pp.958964. doi:
10.1016/B0-12-227055-X/00180-2. ISBN9780122270550.

Você também pode gostar