Introduction

Cashew is one of the most sought after nuts among dry fruits obtained from an exotic tree species. The commercial cultivation of cashew is taken up mainly in eight states in India namely Andhra Pradesh, Goa, Kerala, Karnataka, Orissa, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu. The current production in India accounts for 19.46 per cent of global production. Cashew nut is formed outside the fleshy fruit known as cashew apple. At the time of maturity, the cashew apple along with seed falls down on the ground. These are collected and processed to get cashew nut. The cashew apple being fleshy and sweet in taste is used to prepare a fermented fruit drink known as Feni. Kerala is the leading state in processing of cashew. More than two third of cashew processing units are in Kerala, whereas remaining are scattered in the other states. These units together have processing capacity of more than 8 lakh tons per annum. The seeds are separated from cashew apple and dried in the sun for 4-5 days. The dried raw cashew seeds are processed to cashew nut for marketing.
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