Skip to main content

Cashew (Anacardium occidentale)

Jambu monyet or mete or cashew tree (Anacardium occidentale) is a species of plant in Anacardiaceae where receptaculum balloons and fruit can be eaten. Medium-sized tree, up to 12 m tall, wide canopy, has many branches and always green.

A. occidentale has a high canopy and is narrow or low and widens depending on environmental conditions. The leaves are located at the end of the twigs, stem-stemmed, egg-shaped upside down, most have a tapered base and ends rounded, curved inward, bare and 8-22x5-13 cm.

Dlium Cashew (Anacardium occidentale)

Cashew is a monoesis, androgynous flowers, collected in a smooth panicle with fine hair and 15-25 cm wide. Hairy petals and 4-5 mm. Pointy crown, 1 cm, white to red and hairy. The fruit is dark brown, bent and 3 cm high.

Jambu monyet is mainly cultivated for receptaculum balloons which expand after fertilization which is often referred to as "fruit". This pseudo fruit is a soft part that is swollen and yellow or red.

Receptaculum is sometimes sold on the market as "fresh fruit" for sour taste. Further processing produces a sweet taste as syrup or fermented for alcoholic drinks. The untreated receptaculum is used as animal feed.

The true fruit is actually a hard part, blackish brown and contains seeds that can be processed into delicious snacks that are often referred to as "nuts" (as the kernel) called mete.

Mete is surrounded by a double shell that secretes urushiol sap which can cause irritation to the skin. Some people are allergic, but actually rarely cause allergies in humans when compared with nuts.



Mete is usually fried as a snack when drinking tea or coffee, chocolate fillers and decorations of cakes. Mete husk is used for poultry feed. A type of oil extract is also produced from shells for various industries as cashew nutshell liquid (CNSL) or cashew shell oil (CAS).

Raw nuts are 5% water, 30% carbohydrates, 44% fat, and 18% protein (table). In a 100 gram provide 553 calories, 67% DV total fats, 36% DV of protein, 13% DV dietary fiber and 11% DV carbohydrates. Rich sources including particularly copper, manganese, phosphorus and magnesium (79-110% DV); thiamin, vitamin B6 and vitamin K (32-37% DV); iron, potassium, zinc, and selenium (14-61% DV). In 100 grams raw contain 1.74 gr) of beta-sitosterol.

Young leaves are preferred as raw or cooked vegetables. Old leaves are used to treat skin rashes. All parts of the tree can be used for traditional medicinal herbs, especially for curing skin aches, mouth cleansers and laxatives.

The wood is light brown, of low value and rarely used, generally as firewood and low-quality tooling. The sap from the stems and hardened in the open air is called gum for book adhesive and plywood, also preventing termites.

Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Sapindales
Family: Anacardiaceae
Genus: Anacardium
Species: A. occidentale

Popular Posts

Purhepecha oak (Quercus purhepecha), new species of shrub oak endemic to the state of Michoacán, Mexico

NEWS - In Mexico, several Quercus shrubby species are taxonomically very problematic including 8 taxa with similar characteristics. Now researchers report the purhepecha oak ( Quercus purhepecha De Luna-Bonilla, S. Valencia & Coombes sp. nov.) as a new tomentose shrubby white oak species with a distribution only in the Cuitzeo basin in the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt (TMVB). Quercus Linnaeus (1753) subdivided into 2 subgenera and 8 sections of which section Quercus (white oaks) has the widest distribution in the Americas, Asia and Europe. This section is very diverse in Mexico and Central America with phylogenomic evidence indicating recent and accelerated speciation in these regions. The number of shrubby oak species in Mexico is still uncertain. De Luna-Bonilla of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México and colleagues found at least 3 taxa in the TMVB, specifically Quercus frutex Trelease (1924), Quercus microphylla Née (1801) and Quercus repanda Bonpland (1809). In 2016,...

Javan mocca or Javan slender caesar (Amanita javanica)

OPINION - Javan mocca or Javan slender caesar ( Amanita javanica ) is a mysterious fungus species and has been enigmatic since it was first reported by Boedijn in 1951 and after that no explanation or reporting of specimens is believed to be the same as expected. Boedijn (1951) described A. javanica which grew on Java island as having the characteristics covered in the Amanita genus. Corner and Bas in 1962 tried to describe Javan mocca and all species in Amanita based on specimens in Singapore. Over time some reports say that they have found A. javanica specimens in other Southeast Asia including also China, Japan, India and Nepal. But there is no definitive knowledge and many doubt whether the specimen is the same as described by Boedijn (1951). I was fortunate to have seen this species one afternoon and soon I took out a camera for some shots. In fact, I've only met this mushroom species once. Javan mocca is an endangered species and I have never seen in my experience in...

Tekijem (Cyperus cyperoides)

Tekijem ( Cyperus cyperoides ) is a plant species in Cyperaceae, annual grasses that grow in seasonal wetlands, open or shaded fields, swamps, ponds, rice fields, roadsides, open forests, secondary forests and shrubs at altitudes up to 1,800 m in the tropics. C. cyperoides has an upright, triangular shape, 20-75 cm tall from a very short rhizome and has no stolon. The lanceolate-shaped leaves are narrow and long, the tips are pointed, slippery, shiny, green and grow at the bottom and at the top of the stem. The terminal flower appears on the tip of the stem, cylindrical spiklet shaped and green. Each stem has two to seven flowers, each of which has a short or long stem that grows at the end of the stem together with the leaves. Tekijem grows solitary or in small groups at a distance. Propagating using vegetative and generative methods using seeds. At least three sub-species are Cyperus cyperoides cyperoides , Cyperus cyperoides flavus and Cyperus cyperoides pseudoflavus . Th...