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43-421: Cashew is the common name of a tropical evergreen tree Anacardium occidentale , in the family Anacardiaceae . It is native to South America and is the source of the cashew nut and the cashew apple, an accessory fruit . The tree can grow as tall as 14 metres (46 feet), but the dwarf cultivars, growing up to 6 m (20 ft), prove more profitable, with earlier maturity and greater yields. The cashew nut

86-421: A kidney -shaped or boxing glove -shaped drupe that grows at the end of the cashew apple. The drupe first develops on the tree and then the pedicel expands to become the cashew apple. The drupe becomes the true fruit, a single shell -encased seed , which is often considered a nut in the culinary sense. The seed is surrounded by a double shell that contains an allergenic phenolic resin, anacardic acid —which

129-480: A panicle or corymb up to 26 cm (10 in) long; each flower is small, pale green at first, then turning reddish, with five slender, acute petals 7–15 millimetres ( 1 ⁄ 4 – 5 ⁄ 8  in) long. The largest cashew tree in the world covers an area around 7,500 m (81,000 sq ft) and is located in Natal , Brazil . The fruit of the cashew tree is an accessory fruit (sometimes called

172-993: A 100-gram reference amount, raw cashews provide 553  kilocalories , 67% of the Daily Value (DV) in total fats, 36% DV of protein , 13% DV of dietary fiber and 11% DV of carbohydrates . Cashews are rich sources (20% or more of the DV) of dietary minerals , including particularly copper , manganese , phosphorus , and magnesium (79–110% DV), and of thiamin , vitamin B 6 and vitamin K (32–37% DV). Iron , potassium , zinc , and selenium are present in significant content (14–61% DV) (table). Cashews (100 g, raw) contain 113 milligrams (1.74 gr) of beta-sitosterol . Culinary uses for cashew seeds in snacking and cooking are similar to those for all tree seeds called nuts. Cashews are commonly used in South Asian cuisine , whole for garnishing sweets or curries, or ground into

215-398: A Spanish name for cashew). Cashew nuts are more widely traded than cashew apples, because the fruit, unlike the nut, is easily bruised and has a very limited shelf life. Cashew apple juice, however, may be used for manufacturing blended juices. When the apple is consumed, its astringency is sometimes removed by steaming the fruit for five minutes before washing it in cold water. Steeping

258-485: A black oil used as a preservative and water-proofing agent in varnishes , cement, and as a lubricant or timber seal. Timber is used to manufacture furniture, boats, packing crates, and charcoal . Its juice turns black on exposure to air, providing an indelible ink. Evergreen There are many different kinds of evergreen plants, including trees , shrubs , and vines. Evergreens include: The Latin binomial term sempervirens , meaning "always green", refers to

301-497: A cold or dry/wet season. Evergreen trees also lose leaves, but each tree loses its leaves gradually and not all at once. Most tropical rainforest plants are considered to be evergreens, replacing their leaves gradually throughout the year as the leaves age and fall, whereas species growing in seasonally arid climates may be either evergreen or deciduous. Most warm temperate climate plants are also evergreen. In cool temperate climates, fewer plants are evergreen. In such climates, there

344-486: A double distillation process. The resulting beverage is called feni or fenny. Feni is about 40–42% alcohol (80–84 proof). The single-distilled version is called urrak , which is about 15% alcohol (30 proof). In Tanzania, the cashew apple ( bibo in Swahili ) is dried and reconstituted with water and fermented, then distilled to make a strong liquor called gongo . Cashew nut oil is a dark yellow oil derived from pressing

387-731: A higher soil acidity and lower soil nitrogen content. This is the case with Mediterranean evergreen seedlings, which have unique C and N storages that allow stored resources to determine fast growth within the species, limiting competition and bolstering survival. These conditions favor the growth of more evergreens and make it more difficult for deciduous plants to persist. In addition, the shelter provided by existing evergreen plants can make it easier for younger evergreen plants to survive cold and/or drought. Evergreen plants can have decorative as well as functional uses. In months where most other plants are dormant, evergreens with their sturdy structure, and vibrant foliage are popular choices to beautify

430-536: A husk, which accounts for approximately 5% of the total nut. Cashew nut husk is used in emerging industrial applications, such as an adsorbent , composites , biopolymers , dyes and enzyme synthesis. The mature cashew apple can be eaten fresh, cooked in curries, or fermented into vinegar, citric acid or 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,

473-423: A landscape. Additionally, evergreens can serve as a windbreak , stopping heat loss from buildings during cold months when placed on the northwest side of a structure. Semecarpus anacardium Semecarpus anacardium , commonly known as the marking nut tree , Malacca bean tree , marany nut , oriental cashew , dhobi nut tree and varnish tree , is a native of India, found in the outer Himalayas to

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516-420: A larger volume of parenchyma and air spaces per unit leaf area. They have larger leaf biomass per unit leaf area, and hence a lower specific leaf area . Construction costs do not differ between the groups. Evergreens have generally a larger fraction of total plant biomass present as leaves (LMF), but they often have a lower rate of photosynthesis. Deciduous trees shed their leaves usually as an adaptation to

559-561: A less frequent allergen than other tree nuts or peanuts . For up to 6% of children and 3% of adults, consuming cashews may cause allergic reactions , ranging from mild discomfort to life-threatening anaphylaxis . 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. The shell of

602-512: 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 of Goa Kaju are used whole for making curries and sweets. Cashews are also used in Thai and Chinese cuisines , generally in whole form. In the Philippines, cashew

645-458: A pseudocarp or false fruit). What appears to be the fruit is an oval or pear-shaped structure, a hypocarpium , that develops from the pedicel and the receptacle of the cashew flower. Called the cashew apple, better known in Central America as marañón , it ripens into a yellow or red structure about 5–11 cm (2– 4 + 1 ⁄ 4  in) long. The true fruit of the cashew tree is

688-438: Is a byproduct of processing cashew nuts. As it is a strong irritant, it should not be confused with edible cashew nut oil. It is dangerous to handle in small-scale processing of the shells, but is itself a raw material with multiple uses. It is used in tropical folk medicine and for anti- termite treatment of timber. Its composition varies depending on how it is processed. These substances are skin allergens, like lacquer and

731-448: Is a known product of Antipolo and is eaten with suman . The province of Pampanga also has a sweet dessert called turrones de casuy , which is cashew marzipan wrapped in white wafers. In Indonesia, roasted and salted cashews are called kacang mete or kacang mede , while the cashew apple is called jambu monyet ( lit. 'monkey rose apple'). In the 21st century, cashew cultivation increased in several African countries to meet

774-533: Is a light reddish to yellow fruit, whose pulp and juice can be processed into a sweet, astringent fruit drink or fermented and distilled into liquor. The cashew tree is large and evergreen , growing to 14 metres (46 feet) tall, with a short, often irregularly shaped trunk. The leaves are spirally arranged, leathery textured, elliptic to obovate, 4–22 centimetres ( 1 + 1 ⁄ 2 – 8 + 3 ⁄ 4 inches) long and 2–15 cm ( 3 ⁄ 4 –6 in) broad, with smooth margins. The flowers are produced in

817-576: Is a potent skin irritant chemically related to the better-known and also toxic allergenic oil urushiol , which is found in the related poison ivy and lacquer tree . The English name derives from the Portuguese name for the fruit of the cashew tree: caju ( Portuguese pronunciation: [kaˈʒu] ), also known as acaju , which itself is from the Tupi word acajú , literally meaning "nut that produces itself". The generic name Anacardium

860-438: Is a predominance of conifers because few evergreen broadleaf plants can tolerate severe cold below about −26 °C (−15 °F). In addition, evergreen foliage experiences significant leaf damage in these cold, dry climates. Root systems are the most vulnerable aspect of many plants. Even though roots are insulated by soil, which tends to be warmer than average air temperatures, soil temperatures that drop too low can kill

903-524: Is composed of the Greek prefix ana- ( ἀνά- , aná , 'up, upward'), the Greek cardia ( καρδία , kardía , 'heart'), and the Neo-Latin suffix -ium . It possibly refers to the heart shape of the fruit, to "the top of the fruit stem" or to the seed. The word anacardium was earlier used to refer to Semecarpus anacardium (the marking nut tree) before Carl Linnaeus transferred it to

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946-601: Is edible and is eaten on its own as a snack , used in recipes, or processed into cashew cheese or cashew butter . The nut is often simply called a 'cashew'. In 2019, four million tonnes of cashew nuts were produced globally, with Ivory Coast and India the leading producers. As well as the nut and fruit, the plant has several other uses. The shell of the cashew seed yields derivatives that can be used in many applications including lubricants, waterproofing, paints, and, starting in World War II, arms production. The cashew apple

989-507: Is native to tropical South America and later was distributed around the world in the 1500s by Portuguese explorers . Portuguese colonists in Brazil began exporting cashew nuts as early as the 1550s. The Portuguese took it to Goa , formerly Estado da Índia Portuguesa in India, between 1560 and 1565. From there, it spread throughout Southeast Asia and eventually Africa. The cashew tree is cultivated in

1032-493: The Coromandel Coast . It is closely related to the cashew . Semecarpus anacardium was called the "marking nut" by Europeans because it was used by washermen to mark cloth and clothing before washing, as it imparted a water insoluble mark to the cloth. The specific epithet anacardium ("up-heart") was used by apothecaries in the 16th century to refer to the plant's fruit. It was later used by Linnaeus to refer to

1075-718: The Netherlands, Germany, Brazil, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Indonesia, Burkina Faso, and the United States. In 2014, the rapid growth of cashew cultivation in the Ivory Coast made this country the top African exporter. Fluctuations in world market prices, poor working conditions, and low pay for local harvesting have caused discontent in the cashew nut industry. Almost all cashews produced in Africa between 2000 and 2019 were exported as raw nuts which are much less profitable than shelled nuts. One of

1118-476: The area in which they reside. The excellent water economy within the evergreen species is due to high abundance when compared to deciduous species. Whereas deciduous trees lose nutrients whenever they lose their leaves. In warmer areas, species such as some pines and cypresses grow on poor soils and disturbed ground. In Rhododendron , a genus with many broadleaf evergreens, several species grow in mature forests but are usually found on highly acidic soil where

1161-425: The cashew apple is used to flavor drinks, both alcoholic and nonalcoholic. In Brazil, cashew fruit juice and fruit pulp are used in the production of sweets, and juice mixed with alcoholic beverages such as cachaça , and as flour, milk, or cheese. 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 marañón ( marañón being

1204-538: The cashew nut contains oil compounds that can cause contact dermatitis similar to poison ivy , primarily resulting from the phenolic lipids , anacardic acid , and cardanol . Because it can cause dermatitis, cashews are typically not sold in the shell to consumers. Readily and inexpensively extracted from the waste shells, cardanol is under research for its potential applications in nanomaterials and biotechnology . Raw cashews are 5% water, 30%  carbohydrates , 44%  fat , and 18%  protein (table). In

1247-405: The cashew nuts (typically from lower-value broken chunks created accidentally during processing) and is used for cooking or as a salad dressing. The highest quality oil is produced from a single cold pressing. 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

1290-443: The cashew. It is a deciduous tree. Like the closely related cashew, the fruit is composed of two parts, a reddish-orange accessory fruit and a black drupe that grows at the end. The nut is about 25 millimetres (1 in) long, ovoid and smooth lustrous black. The accessory fruit is edible and sweet when ripe, but the black fruit is toxic and produces a severe allergic reaction if it is consumed or its resin comes in contact with

1333-469: The cashew; both plants are in the same family. The epithet occidentale derives from the Western (or Occidental) world. The plant has diverse common names in various languages among its wide distribution range, including anacardier ( French ) with the fruit referred to as pomme de cajou , caju ( Portuguese pronunciation: [kaˈʒu] ), or acaju (Portuguese). The species

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1376-546: The evergreen nature of the plant, for instance: The longevity of individual leaves in evergreen plants varies from a few months to several decades (over 30 years in the Great Basin bristlecone pine ). Japanese umbrella pine is unique in that it has its own family of which it is the only species. Evergreen and deciduous species vary in a range of morphological and physiological characters. Generally, broad-leaved evergreen species have thicker leaves than deciduous species, with

1419-428: The field of rigid polyurethanes, aided by their inherent phenolic structure and larger number of reactive units per unit mass. CNSL may be used as a resin for carbon composite products. CNSL-based novolac is another versatile industrial monomer deriving from cardanol typically used as a reticulating agent (hardener) for epoxy matrices in composite applications providing good thermal and mechanical properties to

1462-439: The final composite material. Discarded cashew nuts unfit for human consumption, alongside the residues of oil extraction from cashew kernels, can be fed to livestock. Animals can also eat the leaves of cashew trees. As well as the nut and fruit, the plant has several other uses. In Cambodia, the bark gives a yellow dye, the timber is used in boat-making, and for house-boards, and the wood makes excellent charcoal. The shells yield

1505-427: The first year, with economic yields after three years. The cashew nut yields for the traditional tree are about 0.25 t/ha (0.100 long ton/acre; 0.11 short ton/acre), 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 commercial orchards. In 2021, global production of cashew nuts (as

1548-462: The fruit in boiling salt water for five minutes also reduces the astringency. In Cambodia, where the plant is usually grown as an ornamental rather than an economic tree, the fruit is a delicacy and is eaten with salt. In the Indian state of Goa , the ripened cashew apples are mashed, and the juice, called "neero", is extracted and kept for fermentation for a few days. This fermented juice then undergoes

1591-604: The goals of the African Cashew Alliance is to promote Africa's cashew processing capabilities to improve the profitability of Africa's cashew industry. In 2011, Human Rights Watch reported that forced labour was used for cashew processing in Vietnam. Around 40,000 current or former drug users were forced to remove shells from " blood cashews " or perform other work and often beaten at more than 100 rehabilitation centers. Some people are allergic to cashews, but they are

1634-441: The kernel) was 3.7 million tonnes , led by Ivory Coast and India with a combined 43% of the world total (table). The top ten exporters of cashew nuts (in-shell; HS Code 080131) in value (USD) in 2021 were Ghana, Tanzania, Guinea-Bissau, Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, Senegal, Indonesia, United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Guinea. From 2017 to 2021, the top ten exporters of cashew nuts (shelled; HS Code 080132) were Vietnam, India,

1677-475: The manufacturing demands for cashew milk , a plant milk alternative to dairy milk . In Mozambique, bolo polana is a cake prepared using powdered cashews and mashed potatoes as the main ingredients. This dessert is common in South Africa. The cashew nut kernel has a slight curvature and two cotyledons , each representing around 20–25% of the weight of the nut. It is encased in a reddish-brown membrane called

1720-423: The nutrients are less available to plants. In taiga or boreal forests , it is too cold for the organic matter in the soil to decay rapidly, so the nutrients in the soil are less easily available to plants, thus favoring evergreens. In temperate climates, evergreens can reinforce their own survival; evergreen leaf and needle litter has a higher carbon-nitrogen ratio than deciduous leaf litter , contributing to

1763-673: The oils of poison ivy, and they present a danger during manual cashew processing. This natural oil phenol has interesting chemical structural features that can be modified to create a wide spectrum of biobased monomers . These capitalize on the chemically versatile construct, which contains three functional groups : the aromatic ring , the hydroxyl group , and the double bonds in the flanking alkyl chain. These include polyols , which have recently seen increased demand for their biobased origin and key chemical attributes such as high reactivity, range of functionalities, reduction in blowing agents, and naturally occurring fire retardant properties in

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1806-448: The plant. The exact temperature which evergreen roots can handle depends on the species, for example, Picea Glauca (White Spruce) roots are killed at −10 °F (−23 °C). In areas where there is a reason for being deciduous, e.g. a cold season or dry season, evergreen plants are usually an adaptation of low nutrient levels. Additionally, they usually have hard leaves and have an excellent water economy due to scarce resources in

1849-454: The tropics between 25°N and 25°S, and is well-adapted to hot lowland areas with a pronounced dry season, where the mango and tamarind trees also thrive. The traditional cashew tree is tall (up to 14 m (46 ft)) 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 6 m (20 ft) tall and start producing after

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