Cashew
Cashews ready for harvest in Guinea-Bissau
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae Division: Magnoliophyta Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Sapindales Family: Anacardiaceae Genus: Anacardium Species: A. The Republic of Guinea-Bissau (ˈgɪni bɨˈsaʊ República da Guiné-Bissau ʁɛˈpublikɐ dɐ giˈnɛ biˈsau is a country in Western Africa, and one of the smallest Plants are living Organisms belonging to the kingdom Plantae. The flowering plants or angiosperms ( Angiospermae or Magnoliophyta) are the most widespread group Dicotyledons, or "dicots", is a name for a group of Flowering plants whose Seed typically has two embryonic leaves or Cotyledons There Sapindales (pronounced /sæpɪn'deɪliz/ last two syllables just like the word dailies ''Webster's Third New International Dictionary'' p Anacardiaceae (the cashew family) is a family of Flowering plants bearing Fruits that are Drupes and in some cases producing Anacardium is a genus of Flowering plants in the family Anacardiaceae, native to tropical regions of the Americas. occidentale
Binomial name
Anacardium occidentale L.

The cashew (Anacardium occidentale; syn. Anacardium curatellifolium A.St.-Hil.) is a tree in the flowering plant family Anacardiaceae. Carl Linnaeus (Latinized as Carolus Linnaeus, also known after his ennoblement as, May 23 new style (13 May old style 1707 who laid the foundations for In Scientific nomenclature, synonyms are different Scientific names used for a single Taxon. Augustin François César Prouvençal de Saint-Hilaire (1799-1853 French botanist and traveler was born at Orleans, France on 4 October A tree is a perennial Woody plant. It is most often defined as a woody plant that has many secondary branches supported clear of the ground on a single main stem or The flowering plants or angiosperms ( Angiospermae or Magnoliophyta) are the most widespread group Anacardiaceae (the cashew family) is a family of Flowering plants bearing Fruits that are Drupes and in some cases producing The plant is native to northeastern Brazil. Plants are living Organisms belonging to the kingdom Plantae. |utc_offset = -2 to -4 |time_zone_DST = BRST |utc_offset_DST = -2 to -5 |cctld Its English name derives from the Portuguese name for the fruit of the cashew tree, caju, which in turn derives from the indigenous Tupi name, acajú. English is a West Germanic language originating in England and is the First language for most people in the United Kingdom, the United States Portuguese ( or língua portuguesa) is a Romance language that originated in what is now Galicia (Spain and northern Portugal. It is now widely grown in tropical climates for its cashew "nuts" (see below) and cashew apples. The Tropics are centered on the Equator and limited in Latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the northern hemisphere at approximately 23°26' (23 Climate encompasses the temperatures humidity rainfall atmospheric particle count and numerous other meteorogical factors in a given region over long periods of

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

Cashew tree

It is a small evergreen tree growing to 10-12m (~32 ft) tall, with a short, often irregularly-shaped trunk. In Botany, an Evergreen plant is a plant having leaves all year round The leaves are spirally arranged, leathery textured, elliptic to obovate, 4 to 22 cm long and 2 to 15 cm broad, with a smooth margin. In Botany, a leaf is an above-ground Plant organ specialized for Photosynthesis. The flowers are produced in a panicle or corymb up to 26 cm long, each flower small, pale green at first then turning reddish, with five slender, acute petals 7 to 15 mm long. A flower, also known as a bloom or Blossom, is the reproductive structure found in Flowering plants (plants of the division Magnoliophyta, also A panicle is a compound Raceme, a loose much-branched indeterminate Inflorescence with pedicellate Flowers (and Fruit A panicle is a compound Raceme, a loose much-branched indeterminate Inflorescence with pedicellate Flowers (and Fruit

What appears to be the fruit of the cashew tree is an oval or pear-shaped accessory fruit or false fruit that develops from the receptacle of the cashew flower. The term fruit has different meanings dependent on context and the term is not synonymous in Food preparation and Biology. An accessory fruit, false fruit, spurious fruit, epigynous fruit, syconium or pseudocarp is a Fruit where the fleshy Called the cashew apple, better known in Central America as "marañón", it ripens into a yellow and/or red structure about 5–11 cm 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.

The true fruit of the cashew tree is a kidney or boxing-glove shaped drupe that grows at the end of the pseudofruit. In Botany, a drupe is a Fruit in which an outer fleshy part ( Exocarp, or skin and Mesocarp, or flesh surrounds a shell (the pit Actually, the drupe develops first on the tree, and then the peduncle expands into the pseudofruit. In Botany, a peduncle is a stalk supporting an Inflorescence, or after Fecundation a fruit Within the true fruit is a single seed, the cashew nut. A seed (in some plants referred to as a kernel) is a small embryonic Plant enclosed in a covering called the seed coat usually with some stored Although a nut in the culinary sense, in the botanical sense the fruit of the cashew is a seed. Nut is a general term for the large dry oily Seeds or Fruit of some Plants. Botany, plant science(s, phytology, or plant biology is a branch of Biology and is the scientific study of plant Life The seed is surrounded by a double shell containing a dermatogenic phenolic resin, urushiol, a potent skin irritant toxin also found in the related poison ivy. For information on urushiol poisoning see Urushiol-induced contact dermatitis. A toxin ( Greek:, toxikon, lit (poison for use on arrows is a Poisonous substance produced by living cells or organisms that is active at very low Some people are allergic to cashew nuts, but cashews are a less frequent allergen than nuts or peanuts. An allergen is a nonparasitic Antigen capable of stimulating a Type-I hypersensitivity reaction in atopic individuals The peanut, or Groundnut ( Arachis hypogaea) is a species in the Legume family Fabaceae native to South America, Mexico

Other names include: cajueiro, cashu, casho, acajuiba, caju, acajou, acaju, acajaiba, alcayoiba, anacarde, anacardier, anacardo, Andi parippu (in Malayalam), cacajuil, cajou, gajus, godambi (in Kannada), jeedi pappu (in Telugu), jocote maranon, maranon, merey, Mundhiri paruppu (Tamil), noix d’acajou, pomme cajou, pomme, jambu, jambu golok, jambu mete, jambu monyet, jambu terong, kasoy. In the Antilles in Puerto Rico, it is known as pajuil, and in the Dominican Republic as the cajuil. The Antilles (the same in French; Antillas in Spanish; Antillen in Dutch) refers to the islands forming the greater part of the The pseudofruit is the main part used as raw fruit.

Cashew Industry

Cashew nut output in 2005

Originally spread from Brazil by the Portuguese, the cashew tree is now cultivated in all regions with a sufficiently warm and humid climate. Humidity is the amount of water vapor in the air In daily language the term "humidity" is normally taken to mean Relative humidity. Cashew is produced in around 32 countries of the world. The world production figures of cashew crop, published by the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), was around 3. 1 million tons per annum. The major raw cashew producing countries with their production figures in 2006 (as per the FAO) are Vietnam (941,600 tons), Nigeria (636,000 tons), India (573,000 tons), Brazil (236,140 tons) and Indonesia (122,000 tons). Vietnam (ˌviːɛtˈnɑːm Việt Nam) officially Nigeria, officially named the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal Constitutional republic comprising thirty-six states and one Federal India, officially the Republic of India (भारत गणराज्य inc-Latn Bhārat Gaṇarājya; see also other Indian languages) is a country |utc_offset = -2 to -4 |time_zone_DST = BRST |utc_offset_DST = -2 to -5 |cctld The Republic of Indonesia ( (Republik Indonesia is a Country in Southeast Asia.

World’s total area under the cultivation of cashew is around 33,900 km². India ranks first in area utilized for cashew production, though its yields are relatively low. The world’s average yield is 817 pounds per acre (916 kg/hectare) of land

Collectively, Vietnam, Nigeria, India and Brazil account for more than 90% of all cashew kernel exports. Some varieties of cashews come from Kollam or Quilon in Kerala, Southern India which alone produces 4,000 tons of cashews per annum. Kollam ( Malayalam:കൊല്ലം) (known to the Portuguese as Quilon, pronounced koy-lon) is a city and a Municipal corporation Kollam ( Malayalam:കൊല്ലം) (known to the Portuguese as Quilon, pronounced koy-lon) is a city and a Municipal corporation Kerala ( Malayalam: {{Kerala in Malayalam}}; The major trading centers of cashew in India are Palasa, Kollam or Quilon Mangalore and Kochi.

Top Ten Cashew Producers — 2005
Country	Production (Int $1000)	Footnote	Production (t)	Footnote
Vietnam	543,364	C	827,000	F
India	302,234	C	460,000	F
Brazil	165,091	C	251,268
Nigeria	139,947	C	213,000	F
Indonesia	80,158	C	122,000	F
Tanzania	65,703	C	100,000	F
Côte d'Ivoire	59,133	C	90,000	F
Guinea-Bissau	53,219	C	81,000	F
Mozambique	38,108	C	58,000	F
Benin	26,281	C	40,000	F
No symbol = official figure,F = FAO estimate, * = Unofficial figure, C = Calculated figure; Production in Int $1000 have been calculated based on 1999-2001 international prices Source: Food And Agricultural Organization of United Nations: Economic And Social Department: The Statistical Division

Uses

Cashew fruit

Cashew nuts, salted

Cashew nuts, roasted and salted

Medicine

Anacardic acids found in cashews have been used effectively in vivo against tooth abcesses due to their lethality to gram-positive bacteria. Anacardic acids are chemical compounds found in the shell of the cashew nut ( Anacardium occidentale) A tooth abscess or root abscess is Pus enclosed in the tissues of the jaw bone at the tip of an infected tooth Gram-positive bacteria are those that are stained dark blue or violet by Gram staining. They are also active against a wide range of other gram-positive bacteria. Many parts of the plant are used by the Patamona of Guyana medicinally. The Patamona (alternate names Ingariko Eremagok Kapon are an Amerindian group known archaeologically from Pottery collections in the Yawong Valley Guyana (ɡaɪˈænə or /ɡiːˈɑːnə/ officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana and previously known as British Guiana, is the only Nation state The bark is scraped and soaked overnight or boiled as an antidiarrheal. Seeds are ground up into powders used for antivenom for snake bites. Antivenin (or antivenom or antivenene) is a biological product used in the treatment of venomous bites or stings A snake is an elongate Reptile of the suborder Serpentes Like all reptiles snakes are covered in scales. The nut oil is used topically as an antifungal and for healing cracked heels. An antifungal drug is Medication used to treat fungal Infections such as Athlete's foot, Ringworm, Candidiasis (thrush ^[1]

Culinary

The cashew is a popular snack, and its rich flavor means that it is often eaten on its own, lightly salted. Cashews are sold covered in chocolate, but due to their higher price compared to peanuts and almonds are not as common in candy, except from higher quality manufacturers. Cashews also factor in Thai cuisine generally in whole form, and in Indian cuisine often ground into sauces such as shahi korma.

See also

• Wild Cashew - the species Anacardium excelsum
• Anacardium Giganteum, also known as Wild Cashew, used medicinally. The Wild Cashew or Espavé ( Anacardium excelsum; Syn Anacardium rhinocarpus) is a Tree in the Flowering plant family
• Semecarpus anacardium, (the Oriental Anacardium) is a native of India and is closely related to the cashew

References and external links

• Morton, J. Semecarpus Anacardium (the Oriental Anacardium) is a native of India and is closely related to the Cashew. F. Fruits of Warm Climates. ISBN
• Fruits of Warm Climates online
• Handbook of Energy Crops - Anacardium occidentale L.
• Cajueiro - Tropical plant database by Raintree Nutrition
• History of the industrial use of Cashew Nutshell Liquid
• King's American Dispensatory: Anacardium occidentale (Cashew-Nut)

• East Wind Community An intentional egalitarian community in Missouri that produces various natural and organic nut butters.
• Ladybirds on Cashew Tree, Sri Lanka

Picture Gallery

Cashew Fruit- Stages of Development

Cashew Inflorescence with developing fruit

A mature cashew apple ready to be harvested

Harvested Cashew ready to be processed- Goa India