Cashew

The cashew ( Anacardium occidentale ), also known as cashew, cashew tree or kidney, is a member of the family Anacardiaceae ( Anacardiaceae ) associated tree. Especially for the cores the English spelling Cashew is very common. It grows in tropical climates and carries cashew and Kaschukerne. Portuguese discovered this tree the first Europeans in northeastern Brazil. The name derives cashew (probably because of the shape of the nuclei ) from across the Portuguese name Caju or cashew tree from the Tupi Indian language Acaju, kidneys tree '.

Description

The Cashew is an evergreen broadleaf tree, the plant height of ten to twelve meters and reaches a diameter at breast height of about 30 cm. His crown is intense beastet and more or less symmetrical, but can assume irregular shapes in wind- exposed locations. In addition to one to two meters deep reaching tap root of the tree developed a relatively extensive lateral root system. This ability, in conjunction with a certain tolerance to occasional drought and lack of nutrients causes the tree is well suited as wind and erosion control. The bark develops in age to a brown, rough and deeply furrowed bark.

Use of the Cashew Nut

Kaschufrucht and Kaschuapfel

The Kaschufrucht is a small, greenish- to brownish, kidney or boxerhandschuh shaped structure, which hangs on a fleshy stalk thickened fruit ( aril ). This approximately five to ten centimeters long, pear - shaped or bell peppers looking fruit stalk is called Kaschuapfel. However, since the Kaschuapfel is only the fruit stalk and not the actual fruit of the Cashew Nut, one speaks to him from a false fruit. The Kaschuapfel is colored when ripe yellow-orange to red and becomes cashew juice and jam ( jam ) processes. The depending on Kaschuapfel kidney-shaped Kaschufrucht is harvested and derived the well-known cashew nut.

The Kaschuapfel developed a very intense, fruity - sweet scent in the maturity stage. Cashew apples are very intense flavor, sweet-sour, a little apple -like and contain a lot of vitamin C. In Brazil is a drink called Cajuína made ​​from the cashew apples, the medical and ritual action is awarded. In Goa, India, you will burn out the juice and liquor, the so-called Cashew Feni. The Kaschuapfel is perishable and its outer skin is very sensitive to pressure. For this reason, it can be poorly transported and not traded internationally. It is therefore processed immediately after harvest.

Cashew shell oil

Cashew shell oil is extracted from the middle part of the wall of the fruit Kaschufrucht. It is used for industrial and medical. It is wood and paper in front of termites and worms protect (about even with wooden boats, which replace the traditional Tran from whale sharks can in Africa) and also act in warts and corns. Furthermore, a heat- resistant rubber and engineering resins are prepared from cashew shell oil.

Anacardic acid, the main component of shell oil is converted by heating into cardanol, which is used as a starting material for a number of products, from a coating material for brake pads to corrosion coatings for sea. In addition, be prepared from cardanol phenalkamines, which are used as the hardener for 2K -epoxy coatings of durable concrete floors.

Cashews

The Kaschufrucht is also called " Elefantenlaus " and contains the seeds, which are traded in the German-speaking world with the English name cashew as " cashew nuts " or " cashew nuts ".

The shell contains a toxic oil called cardol, which is disabled by the Röstungs or heating process. The contact of the oil with mucous membrane caused severe burns on the skin, it is highly irritating. Therefore, in most cases, the shell, together with the cores therein is roasted in oil or treated with steam to make them easier to open and deactivate traces of the oil cup.

The cores are available raw, roasted and salted caramel or seasoned in the trade. Their flavor is sweet and nutty and less intense than that of natural or walnut.

Cashews are a good source of minerals, such as magnesium, which plays an important role in strengthening the bones and the activity of enzymes. The seeds also contain iron, which is an important part of hemoglobin, an elementary constituent of red blood cells.

Nutritional values ​​of seeds

• Calorific value 2402 kJ ( 574 kcal), protein 15.3 g, fat 46.4 g, carbohydrate 32.7 g, dietary fiber 3.0 g, 1.7 g water
• Minerals: Potassium 565 mg, phosphorus 490 mg, magnesium 260 mg, calcium 45 mg, sodium 16 mg, zinc 5.6 mg, 6.0 mg iron, manganese 0.87 mg, 2.22 mg copper, selenium 11.7 ug
• Vitamins: Niacin (B3 ) 1.4 mg, Pantothenic acid (B5 ) 1.22 mg, thiamine (B1 ) 0.2 mg, pyridoxine (B6 ) 0.26 mg, Riboflavin ( B2) 0.2 mg, folic acid (B9 ) 69 micrograms, 34.7 micrograms of vitamin K, vitamin E 0.92 mg
• Amino acids: tryptophan 238 mg

( The data refer to 100 g of kernels, dry roasted, without salt. )

Special

In hardly any other food, the proportion of the essential amino acid tryptophan is so high as in the cashews. Tryptophan is an essential nutrient during the production of the neurotransmitter serotonin. Together with vitamin B6 ( brewer's yeast, potatoes) can help treat depression tryptophan.

Commercially available "raw" nuts are not always really " raw ", a steam treatment is usually not indicated. Some people are allergic to cashew nuts, but this allergy is much less common than in various other types of nuts.

Cultivation and economic importance

The cashew is native to Brazil. In the 16th century it was introduced by the Portuguese Mozambique and India to counter the erosion on the coasts. In the 19th century the cultivation came into plantations and spread to other countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Since the beginning of the 20th century, India became the center of (mostly manual ) processing of cashew nuts exported from there to America and Europe. From the 1960s Cashewerzeugnisse from East Africa were largely exported to India for processing.

In the 1970s, produced African countries, especially Mozambique and Tanzania, the majority of cashews. Meanwhile, production in India has increased and also in Asian countries such as Indonesia and Vietnam, it was expanded in the 1990s. According to a report from 2001 India, Brazil, Nigeria and Tanzania are the largest producers. The smaller West African countries Côte d'Ivoire, Benin and Guinea- Bissau have also expanded the cashew cultivation. In Ghana, it is also able to promote the further processing.

In Guinea -Bissau, the government promoted the cultivation of cashew nuts as a cash crop. It set minimum prices and encouraged farmers to plant cashew and from the sale proceeds to purchase the staple food rice. As in 2006 decreased world prices, bought the Indian wholesalers cashew nuts from Guinea- Bissau or not to correspondingly lower prices. This led to famine in parts of the population.

Trivia

The Maior do mundo is the biggest cashew tree cashew in the world, he stands in the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Norte in the city of Natal.

Pictures

Kaschufrucht

Kaschufrucht: below the red aril, above the Kaschukern.

A cashew fruit, taken in Bali; the Indonesian name for the seeds ( cashew " nut " ) is " kacang mete "

Flowers of the Cashew Nut