Edible Parts: Fruit  Leaves  Oil  Seed  Shoots
Edible Uses: Gum  Oil

Edible portion: Nut, Leaves, Fruit pulp, Flavouring, Vegetable, Seeds, Oil. Fruit - raw or cooked. Juicy and refreshing, though they are a bit acidic and often have an astringency that can leave your mouth feeling furry[ 63 , 296 ]. They are also somewhat fibrous[ 63 ]. They can also be dried or sliced with other fruits[ 296 ]. The fruit can also be lightly cooked to get rid of their astringency[ 296 ]. A refreshing juice can be extracted from the fruit[ 63 ]. Red fruits are considered to be superior to yellow fruits[ 307 ]. The apple is used to make spirits. The fruit is about 3cm long[ 307 ]. Seed - must be cooked before being removed from its shell[ 63 ]. Slightly sweet with a pleasant, bland flavour[ 63 ]. Eaten on their own, salted and used in a wide range of confections[ 63 ]. They can also be used as the basis of savoury protein-rich meat-alternative dishes[ K ]. Caution should be employed when harvesting the seed - see notes above on toxicity. An edible oil is obtained from the seed but, due to the high value of the seed, the oil is not usually extracted[ 324 ]. Young leaves and shoots - raw in salads or cooked[ 298 , 320 , 404 ]. Eaten in S.E. Asia, but too astringent for most tastes[ 298 ]. They are picked during the rainy season and eaten fresh with hot and spicy dishes. One of our users, Carol, from the tropics of northern Australia, kindly forwarded the following information. Safely processing cashew nuts at home. 1. It is best to fill a lidded oven-safe pot with sand and bury the unopened nuts completely in the sand. Use an old pot as after processing the pot will not be suitable to use for any other purpose due to traces of the caustic latex that may remain behind. I have a lidded casserole dish dedicated solely for this purpose. 2. Preheat the oven to around 250 deg C and roast the nuts in their shell for 10 minutes. Make sure to have windows open and the kitchen well ventilated as the heat causes the shell to crack and the caustic latex to ooze out. While the sand will absorb the oil, it may also emit a caustic choking smoke, avoid inhaling this! Take extreme care opening the oven door. I would recommend taking the lidded pot outdoors before removing the lid. Better still, if you have an outdoor stove, use that from the start. 3. Wear disposable gloves when you open the pot and carefully remove the nuts from the sand as they may have some oil residue. Place the whole roasted nuts in a dish of water and detergent and thoroughly wash them. 4. It should now be safe to open the shell and remove the kernel. Finally, remove the thin brown papery cover from the kernel. 5. Note that if any of the latex has stuck to the roasted kernel during processing then that nut(kernel) is not edible and must be thrown out. 6. If like me you are a hobby gardener or a subsistence farmer, and not growing commercial quantities, the unopened nuts can be stored for a couple of years until enough nuts have been stored to warrant processing. My tree produced one cashew apple and nut in its first year and I certainly was not going to go through that process for one solitary nut!

Plants For A Future can not take any responsibility for any adverse effects from the use of plants. Always seek advice from a professional before using a plant medicinally.
Antidiarrhoeal  Antifungal  Antiscorbutic  Astringent  Astringent  Cholera  Contraceptive  Diuretic  
Febrifuge  Foot care  Hypoglycaemic  Leprosy  Malaria  Purgative  Rubefacient  
Skin  Vesicant  Vesicant

The leaves are febrifuge[ 238 ]. They are used in west Africa in the treatment of malaria[ 254 ]. In India and Africa the leaves are used to treat toothache and gum problems[ 254 ]. The leaves can be harvested at any time and dried for later use[ 238 ]. The bark is astringent, rubefacient and vesicant[ 303 ]. Research has shown that it is also hypoglycaemic, having the ability to reduce blood sugar levels[ 238 ]. The bark is used in Ayurvedic medicine to detoxify snake bites[ 254 ]. The bark is harvested as required and used fresh or dried[ 238 ]. Leaf and bark infusions are used in the treatment of toothache and sore gums, whilst the bark and leaf extracts and fruit juice are taken internally to treat diarrhoea[ 238 ]. The fruit is anti-scorbutic, astringent and diuretic[ 238 , 303 ]. Cashew syrup is a good remedy for coughs and colds. Cashew apple juice is said to be effective for the treatment of syphilis, and is also used in the treatment of cholera and kidney troubles[ 303 ]. The fresh, acrid juice inside the shell is vesicant[ 324 ]. It has been used for removing warts[ 63 , 238 ] as well as for treating ringworm, leprosy and corns[ 238 ], and is applied to the soles of the feet to cure cracks in the skin[ 303 ]. It is toxic to many disease-causing organisms, such as Staphylococcus bacteria[ 238 ]. The sap, or bark extract[ 238 ], is considered to be contraceptive[ 307 ]. The gum is bactericidal, fungicidal and kills worms and protozoa[ 254 ]. It is applied externally in the treatment of leprosy, and for corns and fungal conditions[ 254 ]. An infusion of the root is an excellent purgative[ 303 ].

Adhesive  Charcoal  Fuel  Gum  Hedge  Ink  Insecticide  Oil  Plant support  Preservative  Soil stabilization  Tannin  Varnish  Waterproofing  Wood

Other uses rating: Medium (3/5). Backyard Tree, Courtyard, Large Planter; xerophytic. Agroforestry Uses: Because it grows well on poor sandy soils and near the coast, it has sometimes planted for erosion control[ 63 , 200 , 303 ]. It has been intercropped with cowpea, groundnuts and horsegram in India[ 303 ]. In Andra Pradesh and Orissa in India, casuarina and coconut constitute a popular crop combination[ 303 ]. Plants are often used as a support for growing cultivated vanilla[ 200 ]. Other Uses The fruits contain 45 - 47% oil which has high heat resistance[ 46 ]. It is an excellent lubricant and is also used in varnishes, inks, termite proofing wood, insulating coatings etc[ 46 ]. The bark contains an acrid sap of thick brown resin, which becomes black on exposure to air. This is used as indelible ink in marking and printing linens and cottons[ 303 ]. The resin is also used as a varnish, a preservative for fishnets and a flux for solder metals[ 303 ]. The stem yields an amber-coloured gum, which is partly soluble in water, the main portion swelling into a jellylike mass[ 303 ]. This gum is used as an adhesive (for woodwork panels, plywood, bookbinding), partly because it has insecticidal properties[ 303 ]. It is also used in inks, dyes and varnishes[ 46 , 200 ]. The acrid sap of the bark contains 3-5% tannin and is employed in the tanning industry[ 303 ]. One of the components of the bark gum acts as a vesicant and has insect repellent properties[ 303 ]. The toxic, acrid oil in the shell has high polymerizing and friction-reducing properties and is used as a waterproofing agent and preservative[ 324 ]. It can be used for treating fishing nets, woodwork etc in order to repel termites[ 63 , 200 ]. The oil in the shell can also be added to paraffin to make it more effective in controlling mosquito larvae[ 63 ]. It has been used in the manufacture of plastics, and in the manufacture of certain sorts of paints such as are used for ship's keels, cement surfaces and where corrosive influences preclude the use of ordinary paint[ 63 ]. Distilled and polymerized, the oil is also used in insulating varnishes and in the manufacture of typewriter rolls, oil- and acid-proof cements and tiles, friction-modifying material for brake linings, as a component of space-rocket lubricants, inks, etc[ 324 ]. The reddish-brown wood is light in weight, fairly hard, but is subject to termite attack[ 303 , 324 , 404 ]. It is sometimes used for construction and general carpentry[ 324 ]. It is usually of unsuitable dimensions for construction[ 63 ]. Pulp from the wood is used to fabricate corrugated and hardboard boxes[ 303 ]. The wood makes a good charcoal and fuel[ 63 ]. The residue of the shell is often used as fuel in cashew nut shell liquid extraction plants[ 63 ].

Special Uses

Carbon Farming  Food Forest  Hedge