About

Cashew is the common name of a tropical evergreen tree Anacardium occidentale, in the family Anacardiaceae. It is the source of the cashew nut and the cashew apple. The tree can grow as tall as 14 meters (46 feet).

Cashews are native to tropical South America. Portuguese explorers encountered them in the 16th century and spread them to India and other tropical regions of the world. The dwarf cultivars, growing up to 6 m (20 ft), are the most profitable, maturing sooner and producing greater yields. In 2023, 3.9 million tons of cashew nuts were harvested globally, led by the Ivory Coast and India.

How to grow it

The cashew tree is cultivated in the tropics between 25°N and 25°S, and is well-adapted to hot lowland areas with a pronounced dry season, where the mango and tamarind trees also thrive. The traditional cashew tree is tall, up to 14 m (46 ft), requiring three years from planting before it starts production, and eight years before economic harvests.

More recent breeds, such as the dwarf cashew trees, are up to 6 m (20 ft) tall and start producing after the first year, with economic yields after three years. The cashew nut yields for the traditional tree are about 0.25 t (0.25 long tons; 0.28 short tons) per hectare, in contrast to over a ton per hectare for the dwarf variety. Grafting and other modern tree management technologies improve and sustain cashew nut yields in commercial orchards.

Safety

Some people are allergic to cashews, but they are a less frequent allergen than other tree nuts or peanuts. For up to 6% of children and 3% of adults, consuming cashews may cause allergic reactions, ranging from mild discomfort to life-threatening anaphylaxis. These allergies are triggered by the proteins found in tree nuts, and cooking often does not remove or change these proteins. Reactions to cashew and tree nuts can also occur as a consequence of hidden nut ingredients or traces of nuts that may inadvertently be introduced during food processing, handling, or manufacturing.

The shell of the cashew nut contains oil compounds that can cause contact dermatitis similar to poison ivy, primarily resulting from the phenolic lipids, anacardic acids, and cardanol. Because it can cause dermatitis, cashews are typically not sold in the shell to consumers. Cardanol, which can be readily and inexpensively extracted from the waste shells, is under research for its potential applications in nanomaterials and biotechnology.

Where it grows

The species is native to tropical South America and later was distributed around the world in the 1500s by Portuguese explorers. Portuguese colonists in Brazil began exporting cashew nuts as early as the 1550s. The Portuguese took it to Goa, formerly Estado da Índia Portuguesa in India, between 1560 and 1565. From there, it spread throughout Southeast Asia and eventually Africa.

Other Anacardium plants

Wild Cashew · Cashew