Cashew

Anacardium occidentale

Origin - The cashew is a hardy drought-resistant tropical or subtropical tree whose growth is limited to the area of our continent from Mexico to Peru and Brazil, but includes Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and favored parts of the southern tip of Florida. Worldwide, India is the leading producer; other producing countries include Mozambique and Tanzania

Description - The Cashew tree, known by the latin name Anacardium occidentale, is a member of the Anacardiaceae floral family, which includes the mango tree, pistachio tree, poison ivy and poison oak. The Anacardiaceae family contains 73 genera and 600 species. Anacardium contains eight species which are all native to South America. The cashew tree is a small to medium tree, generally single-trunked and spreading in habit, up to 40' in height but generally 10-20' in cultivation. In older trees, spread may be greater than height, with lower limbs bending to touch the ground. Leaves are thick, prominently veined, oval to spatulate in shape, with blunt tips and entire margins. New foliage contains reddish pigment.

Flowering for the cashew tree is similar to the close relative mango tree: both male and perfect flowers are born in the same inflorescence (polygamous). Individual flowers are 1/4" across, with crimson petals, often striped longitudinally and reflexed. They are borne terminally on panicles, generally at the beginning of the dry season. Flowering may occur over several weeks, and it is not uncommon to have ripening fruit and flowers on the tree at the same time.

Common Names - Cajueiro, cashu, casho, acajuiba, caju, acajou, acaju, acajaiba, alcayoiba, anacarde, anacardier, anacardo, cacajuil, cajou, gajus, jocote maranon, maranon, merey, noix d’acajou, pomme cajou, pomme, jambu, jambu golok, jambu mete, jambu monyet, jambu terong

Other Uses - Many parts of the cashew plant are used:

The cashew "apple," the enlarged fully ripe, fruit may be eaten raw, or preserved as jam or sweetmeat.
The juice is made into a beverage (Brazil cajuado) or fermented into a wine.
Fruits or seeds of the cashew are consumed whole, roasted, shelled and salted, in Madeira wine, or mixed in chocolates.
Shelling the roasted fruits yields the cashew nut of commerce.
Seeds yield about 45% of a pale yellow, bland, edible oil, resembling almond oil.
From the shells or hulls is extracted a black, acrid, powerful caustic oil referred to as Cashew Nut Shell Liquid (CNSL) and is located in the tissue between the two walls of the nut shell. CNSL has many industrial uses which include automobile and airplane brake fluid, adhesives, paints and varnishes, insecticides, electrical insulation, and anti-microbials. In addition to CNSL, resins and gums from fruit stems or bark is used as a varnish for books, wood, and flooring to protect from ants and other home-invading insects.
Timber is used in furniture making, boat building, packing cases and in the production of charcoal.
Bark used in tanning.
Stems exude a clear gum, Cashawa gum, used in pharmaceuticals and as substitute for gum arabic.
Juice turns black on exposure to air and provides an indelible ink.

Medicinal Uses - The cashew tree and its nuts and fruit have been used for centuries by the indigenous tribes of the rainforest, and it is a common cultivated plant in their gardens.

The Tikuna tribe in northwest Amazonia considers the fruit juice medicinal against influenza, and they brew a tea of leaves and bark to treat diarrhea.
The Wayăpi tribe in Guyana uses a bark tea as a diarrhea remedy and colic remedy for infants.
Tribes in Suriname use the toxic seed oil as an external worm medicine to kill botfly larvae under the skin. In Brazil, a bark tea is used as a douche for vaginal discharge and as an astringent to stop bleeding after a tooth extraction.
The fruit juice and a bark tea are very common diarrhea remedies throughout the Amazon today, used by curanderos and local people alike. A wine made from the fruit is used for dysentery in other parts of the Amazon rainforest.

Pharmacology - Per 100 g, the mature seed is reported to contain 542 calories, 7.6 g H2O, 17.4 g protein, 43.4 g fat, 29.2 g total carbohydrate, 1.4 g fiber, 2.4 g ash, 76 mg Ca, 578 mg P, 18.0 mg Fe, 0.65 mg thiamine, 0.25 mg riboflavin, 1.6 mg niacin, and 7 mg ascorbic acid. Per 100 g, the mature seed is reported to contain 561 calories, 5.2 g H2O, 17.2 g protein, 45.7 g fat, 29.3 g total carbohydrate, 1.4 g fiber, 2.6 g ash, 38 mg Ca, 373 mg P, 3.8 mg Fe, 15 mg Na, 464 mg K, 60 mg b-carotene equivalent, 0.43 mg thiamine, 0.25 mg riboflavin, and 1.8 mg niacin. Per 100 g, the mature seed is reported to contain 533 calories, 2.7 g H2O, 15.2 g protein, 37.0 g fat, 42.0 g total carbohydrate, 1.4 g fiber, 3.1 g ash, 24 mg Ca, 580 mg P, 1.8 mg Fe, 0.85 mg thiamine, 0.32 mg riboflavin, and 2.1 mg niacin. The apple contains 87.9% water, 0.2% protein, 0.1% fat, 11.6% carbohydrate, 0.2% ash, 0.01% Ca, 0.01% P, .002% Fe, 0.26% vitamin C, and 0.09% carotene. The testa contains a-catechin, b-sitosterol, and 1-epicatechin; also proanthocyanadine leucocyanadine, and leucopelargodonidine. The dark color of the nut is due to an iron-polyphenol complex. The shell oil contains about 90% anacardic acid (C22H32O3 and 10% cardol (C32H27O4). It yields glycerides, linoleic, palmitic, stearic, and lignoceric acids, and sitosterol. Examining 24 different cashews, Murthy and Yadava (1972) reported that the oil content of the shell ranged from 16.6 to 32.9%, of the kernel from 34.5 to 46.8%. Reducing sugars ranged from 0.9 to 3.2%, non-reducing sugars, 1.3 to 5.8%, total sugars from 2.4 to 8.7%, starch from 4.7 to 11.2%. Gum exudates contain arabinose, galactose, rhamnose, and xylose.

Contra-indications and Toxity - The cashew nut is defined botanically as the fruit. It grows externally in its own kidney-shaped hard shell at the end of this pseudo-fruit, or peduncle. The nut kernel inside is covered with an inner shell, and between the two shells is a thick, caustic, and toxic oil called cardol. Cashew nuts must be cleaned to remove the cardol and then roasted or boiled to remove the toxins before they can be eaten.

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