The cashew tree Anacardium occidentale belongs to the Anacardiaceae family. Native to Brazil but has spread all over the world possibly by Portuguese explorers.

The tree is tropical evergreen, resistant to draught and prefers deep snady soil. It grows with minimum attention. Cashew tree bears edible pear shaped false fruits or accessory fruits called cashew apples.

The nuts are bean or kidney shaped, cream white colour, smooth surface with delicate texture.

HEALTH BENEFITS

It is packed with fibre, vitamins and minerals.

Among the minerals are iron, magnesium, potassium, copper, zinc, and selenium.

The vitamins are mostly B vitamins. The nuts contain antioxidants too.

The nuts can be processed as follows

First stage

Remove the nuts from the apple (false fruits) .Gather a fairly large quantity of the nuts.

Allow the nuts to dry under the sun for about 5 days.

Second stage

Gather the dried nuts on to a large frying pan.

With the aid of coal or charcoal, heat the pan containing the nuts for 20  to 25minutes

Ignite the inflammable nut oil and allow to burn for 5-10 minutes.

With the aid of fire extinguisher, or sand, extinguish the flame.

Bring down the frying pan containing the nuts and pour off the nuts on the ground. Allow to cool.

Crack the shell carefully using any strong object stone, or iron and bring out the nuts.

This is ready for eating and can be packaged as snacks in bottles or satchets.

Flavours and salt can be added to taste.

PRECAUTIONS

The cashew nut oil is highly inflammable. This process should be carried out in an open and airy space to avoid incidence of fire out break.

Long sticks are normally used to stir the nuts during heating.

The cashew nut oil is corrosive on the skin. Care should be taken to prevent skin contact.

Some people are allergic to cashew ranging from symptoms of simple itch to severe anaphylactic reaction, breathing difficulty, abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhea. The allergy is said to be due to chemical compound anarcardic acid present in cashew shells and nuts and even apple.