Nutrient Composition of Raw, Dry-Roasted, and Skin-On Cashew Nuts

Abstract

Cashew nuts are the second most popular tree nut in the US with sales growing at a rate of 7% per annum. The highest quality cashew nuts are traditionally whole, oil-roasted, and devoid of skins. The development of a technique to remove the caustic cashew nut shell liquid from cashews and leave the skins intact allows for the production of novel cashew products including skin-on or “wrapped” in addition to raw and dry roasted products. This study investigated the nutritional characteristics of these newer cashew products. These products were found to contain bioactive compounds including mono- and poly-unsaturated fatty acids, phytosterols, arginine, magnesium, tocopherols, and phenolic compounds. All the types of cashews exhibited higher levels of phytosterols than the amounts reported for other tree nuts. The skin-on cashews had higher levels of phenolic compounds compared to the other cashew varieties tested, indicating additional health benefits of consuming cashew nuts with skins.