Description

The cashew tree is a tropical evergreen tree that produces the cashew seed and the cashew apple. It can grow as high as *4 m, but the dwarf cashew, growing up to 6 metres, has proved more profitable, with earlier maturity and higher yields.The cashew seed, often simply called a cashew, is widely consumed. It is eaten on its own, used in recipes, or processed into cashew cheese or cashew butter. The cashew apple is a light reddish to yellow fruit, whose pulp can be processed into a sweet, astringent fruit drink or distilled into liquor.

The shell of the cashew seed yields derivatives that can be used in many applications from lubricants to paints.