Cashew nut 5 letters first a. For healthy skin. Essential oil and its beneficial properties
Tell us how cashews grow? I recently returned with my husband from a vacation in Thailand. So there, in a local restaurant, we were served a very unusual fruit snack. Outwardly, this "miracle" was similar to an apple, only orange and watery. The waiter said it was cashew nuts. I never would have thought, because I was sure that cashews are nuts that are sold in our local supermarket.
Delicious nuts, curved in the shape of a comma, one of the favorite treats. Today they are not a scarce product and are always on store shelves. Most of us are used to thinking that cashews are nuts, like peanuts. However, in reality this is not the case. And they grow, and they look different, and even bear fruit not with nuts, but with apples. Have you already wondered how cashews grow? Then let's get to know this culture better.
The scientific name for cashews is "Western Anacardium".
Description of the plant: what cashews look like
Cashews are the fruits of an evergreen tree of the sumac family. By its nature, its family ties are closer to pistachios and mangoes than to. Outwardly, the cashew tree looks like our apple tree: with the same sprawling, wide and abundantly branching crown. However, the trunk itself is most often short and begins to quickly form many lateral branches in a chaotic manner. Under natural conditions, the cashew really looks like a giant and is able to grow up to 30 m in height. With cultural cultivation, the height of the tree is quite compact and does not exceed 12 m due to annual and regular pruning. 
The branches of the tree are densely covered with very large leaves. Their length reaches 20 cm with a width of 15 cm. They have nothing in common with apple foliage, but personally they remind me more of the leaves of a houseplant called white-growth spurge. Of course, not in size, but in its ovoid shape and color, when veins clearly appear on a green background.
The tree blooms in early summer, forming pretty panicles of greenish-pink flowers. They are small, with 5 sharp petals. At the end of flowering, fruits begin to ripen at the site of the inflorescences, and after a couple of months they are ready for removal or fall off on their own.
Cashew develops quite actively and quickly, and already in the 3rd year it will give the first harvest. By the way, his flowers are of different sexes, as a result of which they self-pollinate.
How cashews grow: features of fruiting
But what is most surprising about cashews is the fruit. There are two of them at once:
- Apple. It is called “kazh” and in fact it is not a separate fruit, but a stalk. It grows and swells over time, taking the shape of an apple or pear. The color can be yellow-orange or pink-red, and inside - juicy sour pulp. It does not look like our apples, as it is watery and slightly fibrous, and besides, it is absolutely seedless. These cashew fruits can only be tasted in its homeland - after removal, they are not stored.
- Nut. It is attached to the tip of the apple stem and is covered with a double shell. At the same time, the first, external, is green in color and contains caustic resin. The second, internal, in the form of a shell closes the nut itself.
It is impossible to harvest cashews with bare hands - the resin causes burns on the skin. Only after heat treatment, the nuts are cleaned by hand. Interestingly, the proportions of real and pseudo-fruit are not uniform and the harvest is relatively poor. Although the “apples” themselves are quite large, only one small nut hangs on each.
Nuts are an essential part of a healthy diet. They contain substances useful for the human body, vitamins and minerals. Nuts are not only a great addition to breakfast, but also a nutritious snack. They will help energize the body for at least three hours. It's great, isn't it?)
Let's take a closer look at one of my favorite types of nuts. Oily and delicate in taste, cashew nuts have a lot of useful properties, some of which I will discuss in this article.
So why should you eat cashews every day?
1. Prevent blood diseases
Regular consumption of a small amount of cashew nuts helps prevent blood diseases. They are a rich source of copper, which fights free radicals in the body.
2. For shiny hair
The copper found in nuts is also good for hair. It helps hair stay shiny and strong. In addition, copper is an integral part of many of the enzymes that give healthy hair color.
3. Benefits for the heart
Excess consumption of any product is harmful. The same is true with cashew nuts. However, eating three to four pieces every day helps lower cholesterol levels. Cashews help reduce low-density lipoprotein (bad cholesterol) and increase high-density lipoprotein (good cholesterol). The latter carry cholesterol from the heart to the liver for further processing.
4. For healthy skin
Interestingly, cashew nut oil is amazingly beneficial for the skin. It is rich in zinc, magnesium, iron, selenium and phosphorus. Cashews are an excellent source of proteins and antioxidants that help your skin stay healthy and beautiful for a long time. Cashew nut oil also helps in preventing skin cancer.
Cashew nuts contain proanthocyanidin. It is a powerful antioxidant that helps fight tumor cells by limiting their growth and division.
5. To combat excess weight
Despite the high content of fats and proteins, eating a limited amount of nuts (two or three) daily helps to maintain normal weight. Cashew nuts are rich in dietary fiber, which, by swelling in the stomach and increasing the amount of food eaten, creates the illusion of satiety.
This was a small list of cashew nuts health benefits.
Do you like cashews and why? What properties of cashews do you know about? Please share your information. I will be very glad)
Cashew - the names of evergreen heat-loving trees from the Sumach family and its fruits. Cashews are native to Brazil and other South American countries. But thanks to the excellent taste of its fruits, cashews have become widespread and are now grown in almost all countries of the world with a warm climate. The largest cashew exporters are Brazil, India, Indonesia, Nigeria, Vietnam, Thailand, as well as the countries of Central and South America.
The cashew fruit consists of two parts: the fruit itself, the so-called cashew apple, and a hard-shelled nut attached to the top of the fruit.
A medium-sized, pear-shaped cashew apple with yellow, orange, or red skin. The flesh of the apple is juicy and fleshy with a characteristic sweet and sour taste.
Nuts are covered with a hard shell, under which there is a toxic oil, which, on contact with the skin, burns it. Therefore, the nuts are shelled and subjected to a special heat treatment to evaporate the oil, and only after that they become completely safe. By the way, it is for this reason that they are always sold peeled.
Cashew fruits are widely used in cooking and not only. Unfortunately, to evaluate the taste of the cashew apple is a perishable product, so we can only enjoy the nuts of this wonderful tree.
In India, up to 25 thousand tons of such apples are harvested annually. Juice, jams, jellies, compotes, alcoholic drinks are prepared from them. The popularity of cashew apple juice in Latin America is similar to that of orange juice in North America or Europe.
If ripe cashew fruits can be eaten fresh without fear, then with cashew nuts, not everything is so simple. Have you ever wondered why, unlike other nuts, cashews are never sold in their shells? And all because between the shell and the shell, behind which the nut is hidden, there is a very caustic substance called cardol, which, when in contact with the skin, causes serious dermatological problems (the skin is covered with extremely painful blister burns). Therefore, before going on sale, the nuts are very carefully removed from the shell and shell, after which, as a rule, they undergo a special heat treatment until the oil completely evaporates (even a small amount of oil can cause poisoning). This is such a responsible and, without exaggeration, dangerous process that even among experienced "separators" of nuts, there are frequent cases of burns with this substance, because the cutting of nuts is done only by hand. Never try to peel cashew nuts yourself if you suddenly have the opportunity somewhere in tropical countries!
Nuts are eaten raw and roasted, they are added to various salads, sauces, snacks and confectionery. Also, high-quality oil is obtained from cashews, similar in quality to peanut oil.
Cashew nuts are consumed both raw and roasted. Roasted cashews have an excellent sweet taste. It is usually fried with salt, although without salt it retains a wonderful natural flavor. Cashews are used in the preparation of various dishes and confectionery, as well as a thick and aromatic sauce is made from it. Not a single nut can be compared with this noble plant.
Many people try to avoid eating cashews because of the misconception that nuts are high in fat. In fact, they even have less fat than almonds, walnuts, peanuts, pecans.
You should buy whole nuts: they last longer. Discard shriveled, dried and moldy nuts. In a tightly closed container, they will last up to one month, and in the refrigerator - up to six months (in the freezer - up to a year). When kept warm for a long time, nuts become bitter due to their high oil content.
cashew calories
This is a high-calorie product with a high content of proteins and fats. 100 g of raw cashews contains 643 kcal. And in 100 g of fried cashews - 574 kcal. The product is not recommended for obese people.
Nutritional value per 100 grams:
Useful properties of cashews
Cashew apples are rich in tannin and spoil very quickly. Therefore, in many countries preference is given to nuts. Compared to other nuts, cashew nuts cause significantly fewer cases of allergies.
Cashews are rich in proteins and carbohydrates, vitamins, B2, B1 and iron, contain zinc, phosphorus, calcium.
Cashews are used as an aid in the treatment of anemia, dystrophy, psoriasis, metabolic disorders, and toothache relief. Cashews normalize blood cholesterol levels, strengthen the immune system, and ensure the normal functioning of the cardiovascular system.
Cashew has antibacterial, antiseptic, tonic properties.
The use of cashew products among different peoples is interesting. For example, in Africa, cashews are used as a means for tattooing. In Brazil, cashews are considered an aphrodisiac, a remedy for asthma, bronchitis, flu, indigestion, and diabetes. In Haiti - a remedy for toothache and warts. In Mexico, they bleach freckles, in Panama they are treated for hypertension, in Peru they are used as an antiseptic, in Venezuela they treat sore throats, etc.
The use of cashew nuts in cooking is extremely wide: it is an excellent independent snack, and a wonderful component in salads, first and second courses, sauces and confectionery. From cashews, an oil is obtained that is more tender than peanut butter.