The cashew (Anacardium occidentale) is a small evergreen tree growing up to 10-12m tall with a short, often irregularly-shaped trunk and spirally arranged leaves. Cashew nuts have many names. Cashew comes from “acaju” which means “yellow fruit” in the language of the South American Indians. The cashew’s native land seems to be northeastern Brazil and especially the Amazon’s basin. The cashew’s fruit is an oval or pear-shaped accessory fruit that develops from the receptacle of the cashew flower and is called the cashew apple. The cashew nut is actually a kidney or boxing-glove shaped drupe, growing at the end of this pseudofruit, which is also edible but perishable and is well known mostly in the regions where it grows. The cashew nuts are rich in proteins, carbohydrates, vitamins A, B2, B1 and iron. |