This nut, the Cashew (Anacardium occidentale), should win the award for being the strangest of all nuts, with the fruit (actually botanically a hypocarpium, “Cashew apple”) sitting atop the nut (“Cashew seed”).
In the wild, the Cashew tree is a tropical native to South America, the Caribbean and Central America, and grows up to almost 50 feet, but in cultivation a dwarf version is used to ease harvest and yields.
The Cashew is well-recognized and considered a nut in the culinary sense, eaten raw or processed into butters or other forms. An oil can be extracted from the nut, but due to the high value of the nut raw the oil is not extracted very often.
However, the Cashew tree offers many other useful parts! The Cashew apple is less known on the world market but is used locally for its pulp to make sweet beverages, eaten raw and also distilled into a liquor. Even though the fruit is delicious, it has had less market appeal as it bruises easily and has a limited shelf life.
The Shell of the Cashew is also useful, being used in industrial applications such as for lubricants, paints and waterproofing. The young leaves and shoots are also sometimes eaten raw or cooked, but have too astringent a flavor for many palettes.
One word of caution, the shell of the Cashew nut contains compounds that cause contact dermatitis, such as anacardic acid, and for this reason they are sold pre-shelled. As a waste-stream product, the shells are being investigated for their content of cardanol and use in applications.
The Cashew tree also has a long use in traditional medicine. The leaves of Cashew have been used traditionally to bring down fever, in the treatment of malaria, diarrhea and also for toothache.
Among the identified compounds in the Cashew leaves are the alkanes, hydrocarbons, iodine, terpenoids, phenolics, and flavonoids.
The bark is also decocted and used mainly for its astringent and rubefacient activity. It is used in Ayurvedic medicine for snake bites.
A syrup is also made from the fruit that is used for coughs and colds, and the resin is used for its antimicrobial action, applied topically.
A recent preclinical study found the nut extract to exhibit antidepressant effects. Specifically, it was found to decrease pro-inflammatory cytokines, corticosterone, MDA levels, increased monoamine levels and SOD activity.
Through scientific investigation, the Cashew has been reported to exhibit a number of different activities, including antioxidant, antimicrobial, antihyperglycemic, anticancer, enzyme inhibition, antiobesity, antimalarial, antidiarrheal, sexual-enhancing, and anti-ophidian activity.
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*This content is for informational and educational purposes only. It is not intended to provide medical advice or to take the place of such advice or treatment from a personal physician.