Cashew

The cashew tree is large and evergreen, growing to {{convert|14|m|ft|abbr=off}} tall, with a short, often irregularly shaped trunk.{{cite web |date=7 April 2020 |title=Cashew |url=https://www.britannica.com/plant/cashew |access-date=8 May 2021 |publisher=Encyclopedia Britannica}} The leaves are spirally arranged, leathery textured, elliptic to obovate, {{convert|4-22|cm|abbr=off|frac=4}} long and {{convert|2-15|cm|abbr=on|frac=4}} broad, with smooth margins. The flowers are produced in a panicle or corymb up to {{convert|26|cm|abbr=on}} long; each flower is small, pale green at first, then turning reddish, with five slender, acute petals {{convert|7-15|mm|sp=us|frac=8}} long. The largest cashew tree in the world covers an area around {{convert|7500|m2|ft2|abbr=on}} and is located in Natal, Brazil.{{cn|date=June 2023}}

The fruit of the cashew tree is an accessory fruit (sometimes called a pseudocarp or false fruit).{{cite book|url=https://hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/morton/cashew_apple.html|title=Cashew apple, Anacardium occidentale L.; In: Fruits of Warm Climates|publisher=Center for New Crops and Plant Products, Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture, Purdue University, W. Lafayette, Indiana |isbn=978-0-9610184-1-2|year=1987|author=Morton, Julia F.|author-link=Julia Morton|pages=239–240|access-date=18 March 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070315023810/http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/morton/index.html|archive-date=15 March 2007|url-status=live}}{{cite web |title=Anacardium occidentale (cashew nut) |url=https://www.cabi.org/isc/datasheet/5064 |publisher=CABI |access-date=8 May 2021 |date=20 November 2019}} 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.{{cite journal |last1=Varghese |first1=T. |last2=Pundir |first2=Y. |year=1964 |title=Anatomy of the pseudocarp in Anacardium occidentale L. |journal=Proceedings of the Indian Academy of Sciences, Section B |volume=59 |issue=5 |pages=252–258 |doi=10.1007/BF03052341 |s2cid=83230755}}{{cite web |author1=James A Duke |title=Anacardium occidentale L. |url=https://hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/duke_energy/Anacardium_occidentale.html |publisher=Handbook of Energy Crops. (unpublished); In: NewCROP, New Crop Resource Online Program, Center for New Crops and Plant Products, Purdue University |access-date=10 December 2019 |date=1983}} Called the cashew apple, better known in Central America as {{lang|es|marañón}}, it ripens into a yellow or red structure about {{convert|5–11|cm|abbr=on|frac=4}} long.

The true fruit of the cashew tree is 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.{{cite web |last1=Kapinga |first1=F. A. |last2=Kasuga |first2=L. J. F. |last3=Kafiriti |first3=E. M. |title=Growth and production of cashew nut |url=https://www.eolss.net/Sample-Chapters/C10/E1-05A-45.pdf |access-date=9 April 2021 |website=Soils, Plant Growth and Crop Production |publisher=Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems}} The seed is surrounded by a double-shell that contains an allergenic phenolic resin, anacardic acid - which 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.

{{gallery|mode=packed

|Anacardium occidentale - Köhler–s Medizinal-Pflanzen-010.jpg|Botanical illustration

|Cajueiro Meconta.jpg|Tree in Mozambique, southeastern Africa

|Anacardium occidental (Bangla - কাজুবাদাম).jpg|Trunk in Bangladesh

|Cashew Flower.JPG|Flowers|

Pollen grains of Cashew tree.jpg|Pollen grains of Cashew tree

|Young cashew nuts.jpg|Young fruits

|Cashew fruit.jpg|Fruits sold as produce

}}

The English name derives from the Portuguese name for the fruit of the cashew tree: {{wikt-lang|pt|Caju}} ({{IPA|pt|kaˈʒu}}), also known as {{wikt-lang|pt|acaju}}, which itself is from the Tupi word {{lang|tup|acajú}}, literally meaning "nut that produces itself".

The generic name Anacardium is composed of the Greek prefix ana- ({{langx|grc|ἀνά-|aná|up, upward|label=none}}), the Greek cardia ({{langx|grc|καρδία|kardía|heart|label=none}}), and the Neo-Latin suffix {{wikt-lang|la|-ium}}. It possibly refers to the heart shape of the fruit,{{cite book|last=Quattrocchi|first=Umberto|title=World Dictionary of Medicinal and Poisonous Plants|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-37OBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA266|year=2016|publisher=CRC|isbn=978-1-4822-5064-0|page=266|quote= referring to the shape of the fruit}} to "the top of the fruit stem"Merriam-Webster: "from the heartlike shape of the top of the fruit stem" or to the seed.{{cite book|author=George Milbry Gould|title=An Illustrated Dictionary of Medicine, Biology and Allied Sciences: Including the Pronunciation, Accentuation, Derivation, and Definition of the Terms Used in Medicine, Anatomy, Surgery ...|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vlZQAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA73|year=1898|publisher=P. Blakiston|page=73|quote= {{lang|grc|ἀνά}}, up; {{lang|grc|καρδία}}, the heart, from its heart-shaped seeds}} The word anacardium was earlier used to refer to Semecarpus anacardium (the marking nut tree) before Carl Linnaeus transferred it to the cashew; both plants are in the same family.{{cite book|author=Hugh F. Glen|title=What's in a Name|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eMgaXGsBEWIC&pg=PA3|year=2004|publisher=Jacana|isbn=978-1-77009-040-8|page=3|quote= (Greek ana = upwards + kardia = heart); applied by 16th-century apothecaries to the fruit of the marking nut, Semecarpus anacardium, and later used by Linnaeus as a generic name for the cashew.}} The epithet occidentale derives from the Western (or Occidental) world.{{cite web|url=https://www.thefreedictionary.com/occidental|publisher=The Free Dictionary|title=Occidental|access-date=6 March 2020|date=2020}}

The plant has diverse common names in various languages among its wide distribution range, including {{Lang|fr|anacardier}} (French) with the fruit referred to as {{Lang|fr|pomme de cajou}}, {{wikt-lang|pt|caju}} ({{IPA|pt|kaˈʒu}}), or {{wikt-lang|pt|acaju}} (Portuguese).

The species is native to tropical South America{{cite web|title=Anacardium occidentale L. |work=Plants of the Word Online |publisher=Royal Botanic Gardens Kew |url=https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:319068-2 |access-date=31 March 2024 }} and later was distributed around the world in the 1500s by Portuguese explorers.{{cite web|url=http://www.hort.cornell.edu/4hplants/Fruits/Cashew.html|title=Cashew|publisher=Department of Horticulture, Cornell University|date=20 October 2015|access-date=16 March 2019}} Portuguese colonists in Brazil began exporting cashew nuts as early as the 1550s.Carolyn Joystick, "Cashew Industry" in Encyclopedia of Latin American History and Culture, vol. 2, p. 5. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons 1996. 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.{{cn|date=June 2023}}

The cashew tree is cultivated in 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.{{cite web|url=http://www.nda.agric.za/docs/Infopaks/cashew.htm|title=Cultivating Cashew Nuts|publisher=ARC-Institute for Tropical and Subtropical Crops, South Africa|access-date=15 February 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150221195301/http://www.nda.agric.za/docs/Infopaks/cashew.htm|archive-date=21 February 2015|url-status=live}} The traditional cashew tree is tall, up to {{cvt|14|m}}, requiring three years from planting before it starts production, and eight years before economic harvests.{{cite web|author=Ian Duncan|title=Growers Manual for Production of Cashew: Nursery and Plantation|series=Nicaragua Agriculture Reconstruction Assistance Program |publisher=United States Agency for International Development|location=Managua, Nicaragua|url=https://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PNACR262.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061007214448/http://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PNACR262.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=7 October 2006}}{{cite book |editor-last1= Davison |editor-first1= Julian |date= 1995 |title= Fruit of Indonesia |location= Jakarta |publisher= PT Mekar Unggul Sari |page=47 |isbn= 981-3018-11-9}}

More recent breeds, such as the dwarf cashew trees, are up to {{cvt|6|m}} tall and start producing after the first year, with economic yields after three years. The cashew nut yields for the traditional tree are about {{cvt|0.25|MT}} per hectare, in contrast to over a ton per hectare for the dwarf variety. Grafting and other modern tree management technologies improve and sustain cashew nut yields in commercial orchards.{{cite web|author=Desai A.R.|author2= S.P. Singh|author3= J.R. Faleiro|author4= M. Thangam|author5= S. Priya Devi|author6= S.A. Safeena|author7= N.P. Singh|display-authors=3|year=2010|title=Techniques And Practices For Cashew Production|series=Technical Bulletin No. 21|publisher=ICAR Research Complex for Goa |location=Goa, India |url=https://ccari.icar.gov.in/TB%20No.21.pdf|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20240607044215/https://ccari.icar.gov.in/TB%20No.21.pdf|archive-date= 7 June 2024}}

In 2023, global production of cashew nuts (as the kernel) was 3.9 million tonnes, led by Ivory Coast and India with a combined 46% of the world total (table).

Almost all cashews produced in Africa between 2000 and 2019 were exported as raw nuts which are much less profitable than shelled nuts.{{Cite web |last=Nelle |first=Patrick |date=2022-02-28 |title=Can Africa cash in on its cashew nut domination? |url=https://www.howwemadeitinafrica.com/can-africa-cash-in-on-its-cashew-nut-domination/140693/ |access-date=2023-11-27 |website=How we made it in Africa |language=en-US}} One of the goals of the African Cashew Alliance is to promote Africa's cashew processing capabilities to improve the profitability of Africa's cashew industry.{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2023-09-29 |title=ACA seeks creation of cashew development fund to enhance raw nuts processing in Africa |url=https://guardian.ng/features/agro-care/aca-seeks-creation-of-cashew-development-fund-to-enhance-raw-nuts-processing-in-africa/ |access-date=2023-11-27 |website=The Guardian Nigeria News - Nigeria and World News |language=en-US}} Half of the world's cashews were sold by American retailer Costco, as of 2025.{{Cite news |last=Howe |first=Ben Ryder |date=2024-08-20 |title=How Costco Hacked the American Shopping Psyche |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/20/dining/costco.html |access-date=2025-06-03 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}

Some people are allergic to cashews, but they are a less frequent allergen than other tree nuts or peanuts.{{cite journal |last=Rosen |first=T. |author2=Fordice, D. B. |date=April 1994 |title=Cashew Nut Dermatitis |journal=Southern Medical Journal |volume=87 |issue=4 |pages=543–546 |doi=10.1097/00007611-199404000-00026 |pmid=8153790}} For up to 6% of children and 3% of adults, consuming cashews may cause allergic reactions, ranging from mild discomfort to life-threatening anaphylaxis.{{cite journal |last1=Weinberger |first1=Tamar |last2=Sicherer |first2=Scott |year=2018 |title=Current perspectives on tree nut allergy: a review |journal=Journal of Asthma and Allergy |volume=11 |pages=41–51 |doi=10.2147/jaa.s141636 |issn=1178-6965 |pmc=5875412 |pmid=29618933 |doi-access=free }}{{cite journal |author=McWilliam V. |author2=Koplin J. |author3=Lodge C. |author4=Tang M. |author5=Dharmage S. |author6=Allen K. |year=2015 |title=The prevalence of tree nut allergy: a systematic review |journal=Current Allergy and Asthma Reports |volume=15 |issue=9 |page=555 |doi=10.1007/s11882-015-0555-8 |pmid=26233427 |s2cid=36209553}}{{cite web |year=2010 |title=Cashew Allergies |url=http://foodallergens.ifr.ac.uk/food.lasso?selected_food=15 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101029202125/http://foodallergens.ifr.ac.uk/food.lasso?selected_food=15 |archive-date=29 October 2010 |publisher=Informall Database – funded by European Union}}{{cite web |year=2006 |title=Food allergies |url=https://www.who.int/foodsafety/fs_management/No_03_allergy_June06_en.pdf |publisher=World Health Organization, International Food Safety Authorities Network}} These allergies are triggered by the proteins found in tree nuts, and cooking often does not remove or change these proteins.{{Cite web |title=Cashew - allergy information (InformAll: Communicating about Food Allergies - University of Manchester) |url=http://research.bmh.manchester.ac.uk/informall/allergenic-food/index.aspx?FoodId=15 |access-date=2022-09-14 |website=research.bmh.manchester.ac.uk}} 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 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.{{cite journal |author=Rosen T. |author2=Fordice, D. B. |year=1994 |title=Cashew nut dermatitis |journal=South Med J |volume=87 |issue=4 |pages=543–46 |doi=10.1097/00007611-199404000-00026 |pmid=8153790}} Because it can cause dermatitis, cashews are typically not sold in the shell to consumers.{{cite web |date=6 September 2013 |title=Why Cashews Aren't Sold In The Shell |url=http://indianapublicmedia.org/amomentofscience/why-cashews-arent-sold-in-the-shell/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160220000210/http://indianapublicmedia.org/amomentofscience/why-cashews-arent-sold-in-the-shell/ |archive-date=20 February 2016 |access-date=22 February 2016 |publisher=Moment of Science, Indiana Public Media}} Readily and inexpensively extracted from the waste shells, cardanol is under research for its potential applications in nanomaterials and biotechnology.{{cite journal |author=Hamad F. B. |author2=Mubofu E. B. |year=2015 |title=Potential biological applications of bio-based anacardic acids and their derivatives |journal=Int J Mol Sci |volume=16 |issue=4 |pages=8569–90 |doi=10.3390/ijms16048569 |pmc=4425097 |pmid=25894225 |doi-access=free}}

{{Nutritional value

| name = Cashews, raw

| kcal = 553

| carbs = 30.19 g

| starch = 23.49 g

| sugars = 5.91 g

| lactose = 0.00 g

| fiber = 3.3 g

| fat = 43.85 g

| satfat = 7.783 g

| monofat = 23.797 g

| polyfat = 7.845 g

| protein = 18.22 g

| water = 5.20 g

| vitA_iu = 0

| betacarotene_ug =

| lutein_ug =

| thiamin_mg = 0.423

| riboflavin_mg = 0.058

| niacin_mg = 1.062

| pantothenic_mg = 0.86

| vitB6_mg = 0.417

| folate_ug = 25

| vitB12_ug = 0

| choline_mg =

| vitC_mg = 0.5

| vitD_ug = 0

| vitE_mg = 0.90

| vitK_ug = 34.1

| calcium_mg = 37

| iron_mg = 6.68

| magnesium_mg = 292

| manganese_mg = 1.66

| phosphorus_mg = 593

| potassium_mg = 660

| sodium_mg = 12

| zinc_mg = 5.78

| copper_mg = 2.2

| selenium_ug = 19.9

| tryptophan =

| threonine =

| isoleucine =

| leucine =

| lysine =

| methionine =

| cystine =

| phenylalanine =

| tyrosine =

| valine =

| arginine =

| histidine =

| alanine =

| aspartic acid =

| glutamic acid =

| glycine =

| proline =

| serine =

| source_usda = 1

| note = [https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/fdc-app.html#/food-details/170162/nutrients Link to USDA Database entry]

}}

Raw cashew nuts are 5% water, 30% carbohydrates, 44% fat, and 18% protein (table). In 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.{{cite web |year=2015 |title=Full Report (All Nutrients): 12087, Nuts, cashew nuts, raw, database version SR 27 |url=https://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/foods/show/3677?fg=&man=&lfacet=&count=&max=&sort=&qlookup=&offset=&format=Full&new=&measureby= |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150818022119/http://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/foods/show/3677?fg=&man=&lfacet=&count=&max=&sort=&qlookup=&offset=&format=Full&new=&measureby= |archive-date=18 August 2015 |access-date=6 August 2015 |publisher=Agricultural Research Service – United States Department of Agriculture}} Cashew nuts 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 B₆, and vitamin K (32-37% DV). Iron, potassium, zinc, and selenium are present in significant content (14-61% DV) (table). Cashews (100g, raw) contain {{convert|113|mg}} 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 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 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 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 ({{abbr|lit.|literally}} 'monkey rose apple').{{cn|date=June 2023}}

In the 21st century, cashew cultivation increased in several African countries to meet the manufacturing demands for cashew milk, a plant milk alternative to dairy milk.{{cite web |author=Osborn M |date=26 August 2015 |title=Access to Market Data and Supply Chain Visibility offer Economic Boost to Ghana Cashew Farmers |url=http://consumergoods.edgl.com/column/Access-to-Market-Data-and-Supply-Chain-Visibility-offer-Economic-Boost-to-Ghana-Cashew-Farmers101911 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160604004917/http://consumergoods.edgl.com/column/Access-to-Market-Data-and-Supply-Chain-Visibility-offer-Economic-Boost-to-Ghana-Cashew-Farmers101911 |archive-date=4 June 2016 |access-date=11 May 2016 |publisher=Consumer Goods Technology}} 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.{{cite book |author=Phillippa Cheifitz |title=South Africa Eats |year=2009 |publisher=Quivertree Publications |isbn=9780981428727 |oclc=519442115}}

{{gallery|mode=packed

|Women preparing cashew, Burkina Faso.jpg|Women shelling cashews in Burkina Faso, West Africa

|Shelling cashews.jpg|A woman using a machine to shell cashews in Thailand, wearing gloves to protect against contact dermatitis

|CashewSnack.jpg|Salted, roasted cashew nuts

|Cashew - sprout.jpg|Cashew sprouts are eaten raw or cooked.}}

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 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.{{Cite journal |last1=Khalid Zafeer |first1=Mohd. |last2=Subrahmanya Bhat |first2=K. |date=2023-01-01 |title=Valorisation of agro-waste cashew nut husk (Testa) for different value-added products |journal=Sustainable Chemistry for Climate Action |volume=2 |pages=100014 |doi=10.1016/j.scca.2023.100014 |issn=2772-8269|doi-access=free |bibcode=2023SCCA....200014K }}

{{See also|Cajuína}}

The mature cashew apple can be eaten fresh, cooked in curries, or fermented into vinegar, citric acid,{{Cite web |last=Africa |first=Nigeria |date=2022-07-17 |title=How Nigeria can turn its huge cashew waste into valuable citric acid |url=https://www.moneyweb.co.za/news/international/how-nigeria-can-turn-its-huge-cashew-waste-into-valuable-citric-acid/ |access-date=2022-07-17 |website=Moneyweb}} 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, the cashew apple is used to flavor drinks, both alcoholic and nonalcoholic.

In Brazil, cashew fruit juice and fruit pulp are used to make sweets, and juice mixed with alcoholic beverages such as cachaça, and as flour, milk, or cheese.{{cite web |author=Edi Souza |date=28 July 2018 |title=It's cashew time at the fair and on the plate (translated) |url=https://www.folhape.com.br/diversao/diversao/sabores/2018/07/28/NWS,76213,71,513,DIVERSAO,2330-E-TEMPO-CAJU-FEIRA-PRATO.aspx |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180821223527/https://www.folhape.com.br/diversao/diversao/sabores/2018/07/28/NWS,76213,71,513,DIVERSAO,2330-E-TEMPO-CAJU-FEIRA-PRATO.aspx |archive-date=21 August 2018 |access-date=21 August 2018 |publisher=Folha de Pernambuco |language=pt}} In Panama, the cashew fruit is cooked with water and sugar for a prolonged time to make a sweet, brown, paste-like dessert called {{lang|es|dulce de marañón}} ({{lang|es|marañón}} being a Spanish name for cashew).{{Cite web |last=O |first=Odalys |date=2011-10-15 |title=Dulces de mi campiña, Panamá: Dulce de Marañón |url=https://chefodys3.blogspot.com/2011/10/dulce-de-maranon.html |access-date=2021-09-22 |website=Dulces de mi campiña, Panamá}}

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.{{cite news |last=Strom |first=Stephanie |date=8 August 2014 |title=Cashew Juice, the Apple of Pepsi's Eye |newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/09/business/international/cashew-juice-the-apple-of-pepsis-eye.html |access-date=24 November 2015 |issn=0362-4331}} 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 the fruit in boiling salt water for five minutes reduces the astringency.{{cite book |author=Azam-Ali and Judge |url=http://www.fao.org/3/a-ac306e.pdf |title=Small-scale cashew nut processing |publisher=FAO, United Nations |year=2004 |access-date=3 June 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170215021318/http://www.fao.org/3/a-ac306e.pdf |archive-date=15 February 2017 |url-status=live}}

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 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).{{cite web |title=Cashew Drink Stages |url=https://www.goaonline.in/about/tourism/how-kaju-feni-is-made |access-date=7 April 2021 |website=www.goaonline.in}} 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.{{Cite web |last= |first= |title=Eating in Tanzania |url=https://www.lonelyplanet.com/tanzania/in-location/eating/a/nar/0ea61029-2f97-4a70-b083-95460b55cf05/355640 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190815074019/https://www.lonelyplanet.com/tanzania/in-location/eating/a/nar/0ea61029-2f97-4a70-b083-95460b55cf05/355640 |archive-date=15 August 2019 |access-date=2021-10-08 |website=Lonely Planet |language=en}}

{{gallery|mode=packed

|Distilling caju apple liquor in Mogovolas.jpg|Distilling cashew apple liquor (muchekele) in Mozambique, southeastern Africa

|Shrivelled and fermented cashew apples ready for distillation.jpg|Cashew apples spread for drying and subsequent storage before reconstitution in water and later fermentation, Mozambique

}}

Cashew nut oil is a dark yellow oil derived from pressing the cashew nuts (typically from lower-value broken chunks created accidentally during processing) and used for cooking or salad dressing. The highest quality oil is produced from a single cold pressing.{{cite web|url=http://www.smartkitchen.com/resources/cashew-oil|title=Cashew Oil|publisher=Smart Kitchen|access-date=15 February 2015|archive-date=6 October 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006080124/http://www.smartkitchen.com/resources/cashew-oil|url-status=dead}}

{{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. Since 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.

• Cold, solvent-extracted CNSL is mostly composed of anacardic acids (70%), cardol (18%), and cardanol (5%).{{cite web|url=http://www.epa.gov/hpv/pubs/summaries/casntliq/c13793rr3.pdf|title=Exposure and Use Data for Cashew Nut Shell Liquid|publisher=United States Environmental Protection Agency|access-date=12 January 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130512194341/http://www.epa.gov/hpv/pubs/summaries/casntliq/c13793rr3.pdf|archive-date=12 May 2013|url-status=dead}}
• 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 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 CNSL.
• Anacardic acid is also used in the chemical industry for the production of cardanol, which is used for resins, coatings, and frictional materials.{{cite journal|doi=10.1021/cen-v086n033.p026|title=A Nutty Chemical|date=8 September 2008 |volume=86|issue=36|pages=26–27|author=Alexander H. Tullo|journal=Chemical and Engineering News}}

These substances are skin allergens, like lacquer and the oils of poison ivy, and they present a danger during manual cashew processing.{{Cite book|last=Clay|first=Jason|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_RU8D9kB714C&q=nutshell+liquid&pg=PA268|title=World Agriculture and the Environment: A Commodity-By-Commodity Guide To Impacts And Practices|date=March 2004|publisher=Island Press|isbn=978-1-55963-370-3|language=en |page=268}}

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 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.{{cite web|last=Ferri|first=Enrico|title=Bioresins Derived from Cashew Nutshell Oil|url=http://www.materialstoday.com/composite-processing/features/bio-resins-derived-from-cashew-nutshell-oil/|publisher=MaterialsToday|access-date=7 September 2011|date=22 May 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150910171651/http://www.materialstoday.com/composite-processing/features/bio-resins-derived-from-cashew-nutshell-oil/|archive-date=10 September 2015|url-status=live}} CNSL-based novolac is another versatile industrial monomer deriving from cardanol typically used as a reticulating agent (hardener) for epoxy matrices in composite applications{{Cite journal |last1=da Silva |first1=Kássia Teixeira |last2=Oliveira |first2=Beatriz S. |last3=da Silva |first3=Lucas R. R. |last4=Mattos |first4=Adriano L. A. |last5=Mazzetto |first5=Selma E. |last6=Lomonaco |first6=Diego |date=2023-01-27 |title=Bio-based novolac resins from cashew nut processing waste: Alternative resource for the development of high-value sustainable products |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/app.53661 |journal=Journal of Applied Polymer Science |volume=140 |issue=13 |doi=10.1002/app.53661 |issn=0021-8995|url-access=subscription }} providing good thermal and mechanical properties to the final composite material.{{Cite journal |last1=Ferri |first1=Enrico |last2=Talentino |first2=Debi |date=May 2011 |title=Bio-resins from cashew nutshell oil |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/s0034-3617(11)70074-1 |journal=Reinforced Plastics |volume=55 |issue=3 |pages=29–31 |doi=10.1016/s0034-3617(11)70074-1 |issn=0034-3617|url-access=subscription }}

Discarded cashew nuts are unfit for human consumption and the residues of oil extraction from cashew kernels can be fed to livestock. Animals can also eat the leaves of cashew trees.{{Cite web|last1=Heuzé |first1=V. |last2=Tran |first2=G. |last3=Hassoun |first3=P. |last4=Bastianelli |first4=D. |last5=Lebas |first5=F. |year=2017 |title=Cashew (Anacardium occidentale) nuts and by-products |website=Feedipedia|url=https://www.feedipedia.org/node/56|access-date=2023-01-16|language=en}}

In addition to its 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.{{cite book |last1=Pauline Dy Phon |title=Plants Utilised In Cambodia/Plantes utilisées au Cambodge |date=2000 |publisher=Imprimerie Olympic |location=Phnom Penh |page=34 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=InD2RAAACAAJ|author1-link=Pauline Dy Phon }} The shells yield 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.

• List of culinary nuts
• Semecarpus anacardium (the Oriental Anacardium), a native of India and closely related to the cashew

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• {{Commons category inline|Anacardium occidentale}}

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Category:Anacardium

Category:Crops originating from South America

Category:Drupes

Category:Edible nuts and seeds

Category:Flora of Southern America

Category:Fruit trees

Category:Medicinal plants of South America

Category:Nut oils

Category:Plants described in 1753

Category:Resins

Category:Tropical agriculture