Cashew, Anacardium occidentale

Moreira, R. F. A., Trugo, L. C., Pietroluongo, M., and De Maria, C. A. B. (2002). Flavor composition of cashew (Anacardium occidentale) and marmeleiro (Croton pecies) honeys. /. Agric. Food Chem. 50, 7616-7621. 

Nuts, i.e., almonds (Amygdalus communis L.), hazelnuts (Corylus avel-lana), walnuts (Juglans regia), cashews (Anacardium occidentale), pecan nuts (Carya illinoinensis (Wangenh.) K. Koch), Brazil nuts (Bertholletia excelsa), pistachio nuts (Pistacia vera), macadamia nuts and Queensland nuts (Macadamia ternifolia), and products thereof, except nuts used for making distillates or ethyl alcohol... 

Cashew (Anacardium occidentale). Toschi et al. (91) have given details of the fatty acids, triacylglycerols, sterols, and tocopherols in cashew nut oil. The major fatty acids are palmitic (9-14%), stearic (6-12%), oleic (57-65%), and linoleic (16-18%), and the major triacylglycerols are OOO, POO, OOSt, OOL, and POL. 

The cashew (Anacardium occidentale L.) is an evergreen species native to tropical America and contains 47% oil (w/w) (1, 68). Other components of cashew nuts include carbohydrate (27.1%), protein (18.2%), water (5.2%), and ash (2.5%) The predominant fatty acid in cashew nut oil is oleic acid (57.3-65.1%), followed by linoleic (15.6-18.6%), and palmitic (9.0-14.2%) acids (Table 10) (68). Cashew nut oil contains 1.4% unsaponifiable matter (w/w), of which 76.2-82.7% is p-sitosterol. Other sterols present in cashew nut oil include A -avenasterol, campesterol, fucosterol, cholesterol, and stigmasterol (68). Cashew nut oil contains 45.3-83.5 mg/lOOg y-tocopherol other tocopherols present are a-tocopherol (2.8-8.2 mg/lOOg) and 5-tocopherol (2.0-5.9 mg/100 g) (68). 

By way of comparison, we might consider the famesol/anacardic acid synergism against P. acnes. Its antibacterial activity against this follicular bacterium was significantly increased in combination with AMIC of anacardic acid isolated from the cashew Anacardium occidentale (Anacardiaceae) apple, nut and nut shell oil (32). More specifically, the MIC of famesol was lowered from 6.25 to 0.78 /tg/ml, in combination with 0.39 ftg/ml of anacardic acid. Interestingly, this synergism was found to be vice versa the MIC of anacardic acid was reduced from 0.78 to 0.2 /tg/ml when it was combined with 3.13 /tg/ml of famesol (33). The mode of action of the combination, however, remains unclear. 

Paramashivappa, R., Kumar, P.P., Vithayathil, P.J., and Rao, A.S., Novel method for isolation of major phenolic constituents from cashew Anacardium occidentale L.) nut shell liquid, J. Agric. Food Chem., 49, 2548-2551, 2001. 

Trevisan, M.T.S., Pfundstein, B., Haubner, R., Wiirtele, G., Spiegelhalder, B., Bartsch, H., and Owen, R.W., Characterization of alkyl phenols in cashew Anacardium occidentale) products and assay of their antioxidant capacity. Food Chem. Toxicol., 44, 188-197, 2006. 

Cashew (Anacardium occidentale L.) is a tropical evergreen plant known for its seeds that are consumed worldwide. It is one of the most economically important genera in the Anacardiaceae family and is presently cultivated in many regions of the world [ 1 ]. World production of cashew nut is about 2.8 million tons in 2005. Vietnam, Nigeria, and India are the major cashew nut producers, with 33.5%, 20.7% and 19.0%, respectively, of world production of cashew nut [2]. The cashew industry ranks third in the world production of edible nnts [3]. Cashew tree produces several products. Cashew nut is the seed of cashew. There is no donbt that the nut is the most important product of the cashew tree. It is consumed whole, roasted, sheUed, and salted. Its fruit, also called as cashew apple, may be eaten raw, preserved as jam, made into a beverage, or fermented into a wine [4]. Cashew nnt shell oil, also known as cashew nut shell liquid (CNSL), is extracted from the honey-combed shell of the cashew nut and has been used in several industrial applications. 

Himejima, M. and Kubo, L, Antibacterial agents from the cashew Anacardium occidentale (Anacar-diaceae) nut shell oil, J. Agric. Food Chem., 39,418-421,1991. 

The structures of five new phenolic lipids, 2-(8"Z-eicosenoyl)-6-(8 Z-pentadecenyl) salicylic acid, 2-(9"Z-hexadecenoyl)-6-(8 Z, ll Z-penta-decadienyl) methyl salicylate, 2-(10"Z, 13"Z-nonadecadienoyl)-6-(8 Z, ll Z-pentadecadienyl) salicylic acid, 2-(16"Z-pentacosenoyl)-6-(8 Z-penta-decenyl) salicylic acid and 2-(9"Z-octadecenoyl)-6-(8 Z, ll Z-pentadeca-dienyl) methyl salicylate from the nuts of the cashew, Anacardium occidentale L. were established by Suo et al on the basis of detailed MS and NMR spectroscopy. These compounds showed inhibitory activities on cytochrome CYP3A4. Bai et al synthesized [3p-acetoxy-urs-12-en-28-oyl]-l-monoglyceride and shown that this compound would have a therapeutic potential in the treatment of gastric cancer. 

The cashew Anacardium occidentale Linn.) is a tropical tree indigenous to Brazil, which is now extensively cultivated in India and East Africa. The tree yields two edible parts the nut and the cashew apple, an edible pseudo fruit, to which the nut is attached (Figure 21.2). The peduncle is a pear-shaped nonclimacteric pseudo fruit, which can be found in three colors yellow, orange, and red. It is very juicy, fibrous, and edible, but lacks commercial value, compared to the nut. 

Important antimicrobial effects were observed for eashew eom-pounds. Anacardic acids and (E)-2-hexenal characterized from the cashew Anacardium occidentale L. (Anacardiaceae) apple have been found to exhibit antibacterial activity against Helicobacter pylori, a gram-negative bacterium considered to cause acute gastritis (Kubo et al. 1999). It was also observed that the antibacterial activity of methicil-lin against methicilin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) strains can be enhanced when combined with certain anacardic acids (Kubo et al. 2003 Muroi and Kubo 1996). 

Cashew (Anacardium occidentale Linn.) Anacardic acids and ( )-2-hexenal Helicobacter pylori growth inhibition. Kubo etal. 1999... 

Cavalcante, A., Rubensam, G., Picada, J., Silva, E., Moreira, J., and Henriques, J. 2003. Mutagenicity, antioxidant potential, and antimutagenic activity against hydrogen peroxide of cashew (Anacardium occidentale) apple juice and cajuina. Environmental and Molecular Mutagenesis, 41(5), 360-369. 

Cashew Anacardium occidentale) kernels contain flavan-3-ols and proanthocyanidins and pecans Carya illinoensis) a range of phenohc acids and flavan-3-ols (Shahidi and Naczk 1995). Isoflavones, such as 5,7-dimethoxyisoflavone (Figure 7.53), occur in peanuts Arachis hypogaea) but at a much lower concentration than found in soya (Turner et al. 1975). 

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