The cashew nut is served as a snack or used in recipes, like other nuts, although it is actually a seed. The cashew apple is a fruit, whose pulp can be processed into a sweet, astringent fruit drink or distilled into liquor.
The shell of the cashew nut yields derivatives that can be used in many applications from lubricants to paints, and other parts of the tree have traditionally been used for snake-bites and other folk remedies.
Originally native to northeastern Brazil, the tree is now widely grown in tropical regions, India and Nigeria being major producers, in addition to Vietnam, the Ivory Coast, and Indonesia.
Cashew nuts are commonly used in Indian cuisine, whole for garnishing sweets or curries, or ground into a paste that forms a base of sauces for curries (e.g., korma), or some sweets (e.g., kaju barfi). It is also used in powdered form in the preparation of several Indian sweets and desserts. In Goan cuisine, both roasted and raw kernels are used whole for making curries and sweets. Features of Flavoured Cashew Nuts : Longer shelf life ; Good for health ; Delicious taste
Few Indian Major Players are as under
• Goa Agricommerz Ltd.
• Goa Forest Development Corpn. Ltd.
• Kerala State Cashew Devp. Corpn. Ltd.
• Kisan Cold Storage & Refrigeration Service Ltd.
• M A C Agro Inds. Ltd.
• M P S Food Products Ltd.
• Mac Industries Ltd.
• Mangalya Trading & Investments Ltd.
• Moolchand Exports Ltd.
• Olam Enterprises India Pvt. Ltd.
• Olam Exports (India) Ltd.
• Orissa State Cashew Devp. Corpn. Ltd.
• P J S Overseas Ltd.
• Padmavathi Cashews & Coffee Ltd.
• Pioneer Cashew Inds. Ltd.
• State Farming Corpn. Of Kerala Ltd.
• Tamilnadu Forest Plantation Corpn. Ltd.
• Tropical Foods Ltd.
• West Bengal Forest Devp. Corpn. Ltd.