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Cashew
(redirected from Anacardium occidetale)

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cashew (kăsh`, kəsh`), tropical American tree (Anacardium occidentale) of the family Anacardiaceae (sumac sumac or sumach , common name for some members of the Anacardiaceae, a family of trees and shrubs native chiefly to the tropics but ranging into north temperate regions and characterized by resinous, often acrid, sap.
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 family), valued chiefly for the cashew nut of commerce. The tree's acrid sap is used in making a varnish that protects woodwork and books from insects. The fruit is kidney-shaped, about an inch in length, and has a double shell. The kernel, which is sweet, oily, and nutritious, is much used for food in the tropics after being roasted to destroy the caustic juice. It yields a light-colored oil said to be the equal of olive oil and is utilized in various culinary ways. In the West Indies it is used to flavor wine, particularly Madeira, and is imported into Great Britain for this purpose. The nut grows on the end of a fleshy, pear-shaped stalk, called the cashew apple, which is white, yellow, or red, juicy and slightly acid, and is eaten or fermented to make wine. Cashews are classified in the division Magnoliophyta Magnoliophyta , division of the plant kingdom consisting of those organisms commonly called the flowering plants, or angiosperms. The angiosperms have leaves, stems, and roots, and vascular, or conducting, tissue (xylem and phloem).
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, class Magnoliopsida, order Sapindales, family Anacardiaceae.

cashew

Enlarge picture
Cashew apples (hypocarp) and nuts of the domesticated cashew tree (Anacardium occidentale).
(credit: W.H. Hodge)
Edible seed or nut of Anacardium occidentale, a tropical and subtropical evergreen shrub or tree in the sumac family, native to tropical Central and South America. Important chiefly for its nuts, the tree also produces wood used for shipping crates, boats, and charcoal, and a gum similar to gum arabic. Related to poison ivy and poison sumac, it must be handled with care. The two-shelled nut is shaped like a large, thick bean. A brown oil between the two shells blisters human skin and is used as a lubricant and an insecticide and in the production of plastics. The nut is rich and distinctively flavoured.


cashew
1. a tropical American anacardiaceous evergreen tree, Anacardium occidentale, bearing kidney-shaped nuts that protrude from a fleshy receptacle
2. the edible nut of this tree

cashew [′kash·ü]
(botany)
Anacardium occidentale.An evergreen tree of the order Sapindales grown for its kidney-shaped edible nuts and resinous oil.

Cashew 

(Anacardium occidentale), a tree up to 12 m tall of the family Anacardiaceae. It is cultivated in the tropics. The shell of the nutlike fruit yields cashew oil, which is used in medicine; there is also an edible nucleus. The pear-shaped peduncle, known as the cashew apple, has a pleasant bittersweet taste, is rich in vitamin C, and is valued as a fruit. A gum is made from the trunks of old cashew trees. Articles made from cashew wood are resistant to decay.

REFERENCES

Alekseev, V. P. “Kazhu, akazhu: Anacardium occidentale L.” Subtropicheskie kul’tury, 1959, no 1.
Siniagin, I. I. Tropicheskie zemledelie. Moscow, 1968. Pages 417–19.


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