Cashew (marañon), Anacardium occidentale L.

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Cashew (marañon), Anacardium occidentale L.

Introduction to cashew nuts, marañon, Anacardium occidentale

At any cocktail party I can find the bowl of mixed nuts and pull out all the cashew nuts pretty quickly, and gobble them down. Yes, I like other nuts, but cashew are by far my favorites.

I will admit I have no idea why I like them, or whether they are more healthy than the other nuts in the mixed-nut tray. I do know that the cashew nut is slightly toxic until heated. But by the time you get the cashew nuts they have been treated: even the ones you can buy on the streets of Mexico and Guatemala.

The cashew "nut" is not inside a shell. The cashew nut is a growth outside, at the end of s soft fruit.

The cashew nut is not only poisoness, the tree is related to poison sumac, poison oak, and poison ivy. The family is Anacardiaceae. But don't worry, the cashew is treated (with heat) before being served to you. I have been eating cashew nuts for decades and am very healthy. But if you are allergic to peanuts, stay away from cashew nuts (especially for children).

The plant

Tree up to 10 m tall. Its leaves are leathery, flowers white with red spots or stripes (8 mm long). The fruit is a gray walnut kidney shaped with a hipocarpio juicy and red. It blooms from February to March and fruiting from April.

Naturalized throughout the world. In Guatemala is from 0 to 1800 m, most commonly in the departments of the piedmont.

The bark is removed a rubber that has been used to glue or varnish objects.

The gum is used as a folk medicine to cure warts. The juice of the seed is indelible and has been used by many indigenous groups to write and a black dye.

Cashew leaves, notice the leathery texture, characteristic of this tree, FLAAR archive, photo by Nicholas Hellmuth

Cashew flowers at Monterrico, notice the white stripes of the flower, FLAAR archive photo by Nicholas Hellmuth

Where can you see cashew (marañon) growing?

These nuts are grown in Alta Verapaz as well as near Guatemala City. So even if outside it's natural habitat, cashew grows at close to 1000 meters elevation if transplanted to a garden. So botanical descriptions might be modified to allow this plant's range to be more realistic.

I would estimate they can be grown in Peten and any lowland area as well. They probably require more sun than they would get in my garden in Guatemala City (since I have many very tall bananas and tall heliconia that shade everything).

I have also seen cashew growing in Chocola area, Suchitepquez. This is an area of cacao and countless other edible plants. You would expect cashew in many parts of Belize and adjacent Mexico. Most of the tourist-oriented web sites that discuss Belize mention that a cashew wine is made. I have not noticed this as much in other parts of Mesoamerica but I must admit I am content with wine from grapes, and for cashews, I prefer it as a nut and not as a wine.

Cashew fruits come in red and yellowish varieties. If I remember correctly I tend to see the yellowish varieties in Guatemala.

The nut develops first, so you can find nearly full-sized nuts at the end of tiny infant fruits. Then the fruit develops: green at first. The final color comes only when it matures and ripens.

The flowers are attractive but very small.

Plantation of cashew, FLAAR archive, photo by Nicholas Hellmuth

Cashew nut and fruit growing, FLAAR archive, photo by Nicholas Hellmuth

Edible parts

You can eat the nut, the fruit, and the oil. The fruit rots quickly and so you will never find this in supermarkets; at best in a native market for immediately consumption. The fruit would not likely withstand shipping internationally, unless processed into a finished food product.

Cashew fruit as can be found in local markets

Cashew fruit and nut, notice the beautiful colors inside and outside

Thesis potential

Cashew is more of a major cash crop today than a study for Mayan archaeology. But there is plenty of potential for cashew nuts on the world market, so probably a better thesis for a botanist than for an archaeologist.

Helpful basic information is readily available

The Centre for Underutilized Crops, University of Southhampton, UK, has a nice description of cashew nut and plant. Has drawing, a few photos, and good basic information. Short but to the point so you don't wander around lost in stuff you don't want to learn about.

This book below has a chapter on cashew nuts.

ROSENGARTEN, F.
1984The Book of Edible Nuts, Walker and Co New York.

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/hs291

http://ww.pavuc.soton.ac.uk/fruits/fruits_factsheets/Factsheet_4_Cashewapple_final_3006.pdf

Shows the fruit as bright red. I have rarely seen a fruit completely tomato-red.

http://www.fao.org/docrep/X5043E/x5043E06.htm

http://fiveprime.org/hivemind/Tags/anacardium/Interesting
best photos of cashew nuts and fruits

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