The cashew is a popular fruit worldwide. Due to its taste, most people love to eat this delicious fruit. Rather than the taste, it offers numerous health benefits by controlling blood sugar and bad cholesterol.
The cashew fruit has two parts: soft fruit part and cashew nut. Among them, the large part is a cashew apple. It is about 90% of the whole fruit. However, the small portion has a kidney shape. It consists of cashew seed.
Is the apple of the cashew edible?
Yes, the cashew apple is edible. You can eat it as fresh. You do not need to cook or peel. Generally, the flesh of the cashew apple is sweet but slightly astringent. Therefore some people add a bit of salt to increase its flavor.
Generally, the immature cashew apple color is green. When it is ripened, the color becomes yellow to reddish. The unripe cashew fruit flesh has a rigid texture.
Also, unripe fruit has a bitter and have an astringent taste. Thus do not try to eat unripe cashew apples.
When cashew apple ripens, the flesh becomes softy and juicy. In that stage, you can eat them without any issue. Surely, this delicious taste addicts you for cashew apple.
Usually, cashew is grown in well-grown trees. Thus, it can fall ground naturally or while harvesting. So, if your cashew fruit is damaged or bruised while harvesting, the juice ooze may get out, which causes soft cashew apples to spoil faster.
Therefore, check its freshness, including its quality, if you find ground fallen fruit. Especially it consisted bruised areas. Generally, cashew apples can keep them fresh until 24 hours or day. If your collected cashews are exceeded that period, do not eat them. It is not good for your health.
Can you freeze cashew?
As I mentioned above, fresh cashew fruits, especially cashew apples, can keep for 24 days at room temperature. But if you have a considerable harvest, what should you do with them? Throwing out these delicious fruits after one night is not a good idea.
So, if you have cashew fruits, you can freeze them using a refrigerator. Using this method, you can expand its shelf life up to 2 weeks. First, add your cashew apple to a polythene bag to get the best results. It will protect. It is the safest solution to keep your cashew fruit fresh without damaging the taste and texture.
Are cashew shells poisons?
The cashew shell is the below portion of cashew fruit attached with cashew apple. Physically it looks like kidney shape black or brown seed.
Its hard outer shell contains pieces of white nuts. These white nuts are the delicious and edible part. So, you have to peel off the rigid outer shell to eat it. However, it is a bit tricky task.
Because when you try to cut the outer cover, some transparent extract is released. It is caustic oil. If they touch with white seed, it may give a bit frustrating feel to the consumer.
Also, caustic oil is an allergy to some people. Therefore if that extract touches their hand, skin, or surround the mouth, they experience sores. So, some people explained, cashew nuts as the fruit of poison.
However, do not miss the chance of tasting the most delicious nut because of this caustic oil. You can use a small trick to get rid of them.
It burned off your cashew nuts before its cut. Or else, boil them. That helps to roast and remove toxic substances from the outer shell.
These white color seeds can eat as raw foam and prepare a curry.
How do you pick good cashew apples?
After plucking the cashew fruit, you have to pick good ones to take quality cashew apples. So, when selecting them, you should consider the below factors.
· Firmness and color of the cashew fruit
Your harvest may contain different ripen levels of cashew fruits. It may include immature, unripe forms, well ripe, and overripe fruits.
How to identify the best cashews by color?
Generally, well ripe cashews have light green, yellowish, or reddish color and firm texture. So, when you pick good ones, select them.
If any cashew fruit does not have a firm texture or have shrunk texture, do not pick them. Also, if cashew apple outer cover loses its shining appearance and becomes brownish, they are also not suitable to eat.
· Avoid damaged cashew apples
Some well ripe cashew apples will trash while harvesting. So, its inner flesh is exposed to the outer environment.
Due to that, this nutrient-rich flesh can easily deteriorate with microorganisms. Also, it provides a good food source for pests. Therefore, do not pick damaged or trashed cashew apples to eat.
· Do not pick cashew apples that have bird or animal bite signs
Due to its delicious flavor, birds, monkeys, squirrels, like animals, love to eat cashew apples. So, if you notice their bite sign, refuse these types of fruits.
The way I am saying so?
There are different chemicals, microorganisms, and pests associated with the animal’s mouth and nails. So, if they contact fruit, they may react differently.
These can create toxic compounds too. We cannot predict it. So, the best option is to avoid eating fruits that bite animals.
· Cashew apple with spots
It is better to avoid picking cashew fruits that have black spots. It ensures your fruit is safe from diseases and any other pest attacks.
Is it okay to eat cashews with black spots?
The black spots can begin in cashew fruit because of several reasons. These are diseases, worms, and natural signs of ripening.
One of the diseases that cause the creation of black spots is anthracnose. It can spread over the leaves and stems of the cashew tree. However, it causes a reduction in fruit quality.
Moreover, fruit flies also can attract cashew fruit. It will cause to generate worms inside the fruit. So, the affected areas look like black spots.
Therefore, if your cashew apple has a black spot, cut these areas using a knife. So, if you inspect it has any worms or discolored flesh or bad flavor, do not eat them. If not, these spots only spread on the outer peel, remove them and enjoy the fruit.
