Anacardium occidentale

Anacardium occidentale L., cashew nut tree, Anacardiaceae, is a native of Mexico, extending to Peru and Brazil, now cultivated in many tropical countries. In India it grows well on both coasts and on sandy soils inland.

The trees are rather low in stature with spreading branches and leathery leaves with characteristic resinous secretions and odour. Flowering is profuse from the terminal part of the branches (Anacardium occidentale1), though all the flowers do not yield fruits. The stalk and the receptacle of the flower, after fertilisation, swell into a soft pear shaped accessory fruit, the cashew apple (Anacardium occidentale2, Anacardium occidentale3), with the kidney shaped, bluish grey true fruit, the cashew nut, below (Anacardium occidentale3). Cashew, the kernel from the seed (Anacardium occidentale4) is the important commercial product.

The cashew apple is mildly sweet with slight resinous taste and odour. It is used to brew a strong and strong smelling liquor ‘feni’, a mark of pride of Goa, where it is the most favourite local drink. The nuts are roasted on live coal till the shell cracks and releases the kernel, the edible cashew. Cashew is an expensive export commodity and foreign exchange earner, used in a variety of ways in food, throughout the world.

An infusion of the bark and leaves is an astringent and a mouthwash in toothache and sore gums and given internally in dysentery. This was also found to reduce hypertension and hyperglycaemia.

An essential oil obtained by steam distillation of the leaves acted as a tranquilliser and analgesic. It has a mild antibacterial and antifungal activity

The nutshell extract is anthelminthic and.molluscicidal.

The gum from the vegetative parts called ‘cashew balsam’ contains anacardic acid and its derivatives. The leaves contain polyphenols.