Cashew nut and cashew apple: a scientific and technological monitoring worldwide review

Abstract

The cashew tree or Anacardium occidentale , a tropical tree native from Brazil, was introduced to Asia and Africa by European explorers in the sixteenth century. The world production of cashew nuts reached 4.89 million tons in 2016, with Vietnam being the largest producer of nuts. The cashew market is expected to remain strong due to high production growth in some areas, such as West Africa. Cashew production is potentially an important value for small farmers in emerging countries and there is an immense potential for cashew by-product exploitation that can add value to cashew agribusiness. The present work carries out a technological prospection in databases of patents and scientific papers mapping the applications of cashew nuts and cashew apple. It was possible to identify 2376 patent applications and 586 scientific publications on cashew nuts and cashew apple together. After the analysis of patents and scientific papers, it was possible to note that the cashew tree is a tree of multiple uses that can contribute in several industry sectors. Thus, the present study mapped the potentiality of applications of the various parts of the cashew, which allows adding value to the cashew agribusiness.