Written By Sam Henselijn
Cashew is some of the most commonly consumed nuts in the world with several health benefits. They also have many uses: you can simply enjoy them as a snack, or incorporate them into a number of recipes. We tried to put together the ultimate cashew fun fact guide!
At L’Orenta Nuts, we celebrate this gift from nature by offering our customers the absolute best quality we can find. Whether you prefer them simply roasted and salted or with an added touch of sweetness like our butter toffee cashews, these will be the tastiest and freshest cashews you’ve ever tried!
Here are 16 interesting facts about cashew nuts that you probably don’t know:
- Cashew trees are originally from Brazil. From there, they
were imported to Mozambique and the coast of India by Portuguese sailors during the 16th century. - These days, cashews are cultivated in a number of countries around the world with India, Nigeria and Vietnam being some of the leading producers.
- Cashew trees are tropical trees. They grow best in dry or wet climates. To produced the most refined quality cashew fruit and nuts, the ideal temperature is 77 degrees Fahrenheit during the day and around 50 degrees Fahrenheit during the night.
- An ordinary cashew tree can attain a maximum height of 46ft while a dwarf tree topically grows as high as 20ft. The dwarf trees mature early, and therefore are more profitable than the other variety.
- The scientific name for cashew nuts, anacardium occidentale, refers to the shape of the cashew apple, which looks like an upside-down heart.
- The more common name for the cashew nut comes from the Portuguese name for the fruit – caju, which itself is derived from the Tupian word acajú, literally meaning “nut that produces itself.”
- In English, the cashew fruit is often referred to as “cashew apples”, though they taste nothing like apples: much appreciated in its country of origin, Brazil, “cajus” are sweet fruits bursting with juice – but their slightly spongy texture may not appeal to all.
- In other countries where cashew trees grow, people use the fruits for cooking and making jam and chutney. The juice is also delicious, and often used for medicinal purposes.
- Unlike most nuts, the cashew does not grow within the fruit, but instead on the outside of it. It hangs from the base of a “cashew apple.”
- Cashew nuts are mostly shelled by hand as they are often
damaged when shelled mechanically. This manual processing is one of the reasons why cashew nuts can be expensive to buy. - Cashew nuts are great for your overall health. In fact, 18 cashew nuts contain around 5 grams of protein. This is about 10% of the average daily intake requirements. Compared to other nuts, cashews have the highest nutritional value of zinc and copper.
- While cashews themselves aren’t toxic, they are surrounded by a shell that contains urushiol, a highly toxic oil. The National Institute of Health warns that the urushiol in cashew nuts can cause a number of skin irritations. The good news is that the toxins are totally eliminated when they are roasted – or boiled.
- Even though the cashew shells aren’t edible, they are still used. For example, for the production of wood varnishes, or directly as biofuel to generate energy.
- Americans love cashews! The United States has been the top importers of cashews for the last decade.
- Curiously, cashews are usually a shade of green before the nut is roasted.
- The cashew “apple” is considered a pseudo-fruit or false fruit. This means that the flesh of the fruit is not completely derived from the ovary. It is from other parts of the base or receptacle.
We hope this ultimate cashew fun fact guide gave you some new information you didn’t know. Visit www.lorentanuts.com for different types of cashews!
Sam Henselijn Author’s Biography – Meet L’Orenta Nuts CEO
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