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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Raleigh, North Carolina » Food Science and Market Quality and Handling Research Unit » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #340219
Research Project: Improvement and Maintenance of Flavor, Shelf Life, Functional Characteristics, and Biochemical/Bioactive Components in Peanuts, Peanut Products and Related Commodities through Improved Handling, ...

Location: Food Science and Market Quality and Handling Research Unit

Title: Chemical and nutritional characterization of the wrapped cashew

Author
item Dean, Lisa
item GRIFFIN, LAURA - North Carolina State University

Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/1/2017
Publication Date: 4/4/2017
Citation: Dean, L.L., Griffin, L.G. 2017. Chemical and nutritional characterization of the wrapped cashew. Meeting Abstract. Vol. 253.

Interpretive Summary: Cashews are a popular tree nut consumed in the USA, but are not produced in the USA. They are normally sold shelled, with the interior skin removed and oil roasted. New products have become commercially available that include raw cashews, dry-roasted cashews and a unique product that is dry-roasted but the interior skin in still intact. This presentation new knowledge from the comprehensive analysis of these types of cashews products including proximate analysis, minerals, vitamins and bioactive components such as phenolics. Cashew shell nut liquid was also analyzed to prove that the products are free of this caustic material. Compared to other tree nuts, cashews have higher levels of sugar, similar amounts of oil, similar amounts of essential amino acids, lower levels of tocopherols, few B-vitamins and higher levels of bioactive components, especially in the skin-on cashews.

Technical Abstract: Cashews of the highest quality are traditionally whole, oil-roasted, and devoid of skins, although nut skins have been reported to have high concentrations of bioactive compounds. New techniques to clean the nut skins of harmful cashew nut shell liquid (CNSL) have been developed and production of novel cashew products including a raw, dry-roasted, and skin-on product are now commercially available. Nutritional characterizations of these unique cashews were performed. The results indicated that the cashews contained bioactive compounds including MUFAs, PUFAs, phytosterols, arginine, magnesium, tocopherols, and phenolic compounds. All varieties of cashews exhibited higher levels of phytosterols than the amounts reported for other nuts. The skin-on cashews had higher levels of tocopherols and phenolic compounds compared to the other cashew varieties tested, indicating possible additional health benefits of consuming cashew nuts with skins.