What plant is the cashew nut a fruit of? Why are cashew nuts not in the shell?

Cashew is an evergreen tree or shrub. Its nuts are kidney-shaped. It is also called cashew tree, chicken cashew, and longevity fruit. Cashew is a fruit that looks like a kidney. We usually like to eat it as a snack. It is a delicious dried fruit. In addition to the kidney-shaped drupe, the fleshy pseudo-fruit of cashew is also edible. It can be eaten raw, or made into juice, jam, candied fruit, and wine.

Contents of this article

1. What plant is the cashew nut from?

2. Why cashews are not in shell?

3. How do cashews grow?

What plant is the cashew nut from?

Cashew is an evergreen tree or shrub. Its nuts are kidney-shaped. It is also called cashew tree, chicken cashew, and longevity fruit.

Cashew nuts are native to tropical America. The main producing countries are Brazil, Mozambique, and India. They are also grown in Hainan and Yunnan, China.

The cashew nuts grown from the branches of the cashew tree will first grow like a triangular avocado, but the volume is only about 1/3 of that of an avocado, generally called an avocado apple. Then, a small crescent-shaped fruit will grow under the avocado apple. This is the cashew nut we usually eat. The shape is really weird, and what we eat is the kernel after peeling the shell.

Cashew kernels are nutritious and delicious food, containing 48% fat, 21% protein, 10-20% starch, 7% sugar, and a small amount of minerals and vitamin A, vitamin B1, vitamin B2. They are mostly used to make cashew chocolate, snacks and fried salted foods. Cashew kernel oil is a high-quality edible oil. The oil cake contains 45% protein and is an excellent feed.

By-products include shell liquid, fruit pears, etc.

The shell contains about 40% shell liquid, which is a drying oil that can be used to make high-grade paints, color film colorants, synthetic rubber, etc. The fruit is soft and juicy, containing 87% water, 11.6% carbohydrates, 0.2% protein, 0.1% fat, 0.25% vitamin C, and a small amount of calcium, phosphorus, iron, vitamin A, etc. It can be eaten as fruit, and can also be used to make wine, juice, jelly, jam, preserves, pickles, etc.

Why cashews are not in shell?

Cashews have shells, but the cashews we usually see are processed and the shells have been removed. So it’s not that cashews don’t have shells, but that they’re removed during processing. In fact, each cashew has a pretty strong shell.

Cashew shells are tough, not just because they are hard and difficult to open. More importantly, cashew shells contain "cashew nut shell oil" which is highly toxic. It contains some chemicals represented by cardanol, which can corrode human skin. Therefore, it is impossible for us to eat cashews like eating melon seeds.

How do cashews grow?

Cashew also belongs to the Anacardiaceae family and is a species in the genus Anacardium. Its Latin name is "Anacardium occidentale". Cashew is a shrub or small tree, 4-10 meters high, with simple, herbaceous, obovate leaves, 8-14 cm long, 6-8.5 cm wide, rounded at the tip, entire, and glabrous. Panicle inflorescence, densely packed with many yellow flowers. The ovary is obovate, and the drupe is kidney-shaped, 2-2.5 cm long and 1.5 cm wide. There is a large pear-shaped fleshy pseudofruit at the base of the fruit, which is formed by the enlargement and fleshiness of the receptacle. Only the kidney-shaped drupe is the real fruit, and the cashews usually sold in stores are this kidney-shaped drupe. The pericarp and seed coat have been removed, leaving only the slightly white, flat and curved seed kernel, which is the cotyledon, the edible part.

Cashew nuts are native to tropical America and are now widely planted around the world. They are also grown in Yunnan, Guangxi, Guangdong, Fujian and Taiwan in my country. In addition to the edible kidney-shaped drupe, the fleshy pseudo-fruit is also edible. It can be eaten raw, or made into juice, jam, candied fruit, and wine. Cashew kernels are high in oil and can be used to make high-grade edible oil. The oil in the shell can be used as medicine and is also a preservative.