Cashew Nuts
The quality of edible cashews is directly proportional to the quality of raw cashew nuts. With experience in processing, the company understands the needs of processors. This enables Ra Mount to procure the best quality raw cashew nuts.
Origin & Consumption pattern
The cashew tree (Anacardium occidentale) is a tropical evergreen native to the Americas, but it is now widely cultivated in Asia and Africa. It is a short, stocky, low-spreading, evergreen tropical tree. Four centuries ago, adventurous Portuguese explorers sailed down the Indian coasts and brought with them the valuable cashew nut, the favorite nut of the world. Cashew came, conquered, and took deep roots in the entire coastal region of India. Cashew found the Indian soil more hospitable than its homeland. Later, it spread as a popular crop to other parts of India.
The seed is found in the lower portion of the cashew apple. Cashew, in its natural form, consists of a soft, white, meaty kernel covered by a test membrane. This kernel is contained within the thick, hard outer shells of kidney-shaped seeds, which protect the tasty kernel from the ravages of nature until it is processed.
India is the world’s largest grower, processor, and exporter of cashew kernels. It is interesting to note that the consumer interest statistics conducted in 2009 have shown that India has also become the number one consumer of cashew kernels in the world, surpassing the USA.
Cashew kernels are consumed all over the world as a premium snack, and nowadays, they are used as a preferred ingredient due to their excellent flavor and unique texture in a wide variety of foods such as sweets, dates, ice creams, and more. They can be dry or oil roasted, salted, coated with chocolate, spices, honey, and so on.
Cashew nut nutrition facts
Delicately sweet yet crunchy and delicious, cashew nuts are packed with energy, antioxidants, minerals, and vitamins essential for robust health. Cashews, known as “caju” in Portuguese, are a popular ingredient in both sweet and savory dishes worldwide.
Botanically, the cashew is an average-sized tropical evergreen tree belonging to the Anacardiaceae family, in the genus Anacardium. Its scientific name is Anacardium occidentale.The cashew tree is native to the Amazon rainforest in Brazil.
It was introduced to various parts of the world by Portuguese explorers and is now cultivated on a commercial scale in Brazil, Vietnam, India, and many African countries
The cashew tree bears numerous edible pear-shaped false fruits, often referred to as ‘accessory fruits,’ which are called ‘cashew apples.’ The cashew nut, actually a ‘true fruit,’ firmly attaches to the bottom end of the cashew apple, resembling a clapper in a bell. Botanically, this tiny, bean-shaped, grey ‘true fruit’ is a drupe, featuring a hard outer shell that encloses a single edible kernel, known commercially as the ‘cashew nut.’
Its exterior shell is composed of phenolic resin, urushiol, which is a potent caustic skin irritant toxin. In the processing units, this outer shell is roasted under high flame in order to destroy the urushiol resin, and only then is the underlying edible cashew kernel extracted. Cashew nuts measure about an inch in length, half an inch in diameter, and have a kidney or bean shape, with a smooth, curvy pointed tip. Each nut splits into two equal halves, similar to legumes. Cashews feature a creamy white color with a firm yet delicate texture and a smooth surface.
Health benefits of Cashew nuts
- Cashews are high in calories, with 100 grams of nuts providing 553 calories. They are also packed with soluble dietary fiber, vitamins, minerals, and numerous health-promoting phytochemicals that help protect against diseases and cancers.
- They are rich in “heart-friendly” monounsaturated fatty acids like oleic and palmitoleic acids. These essential fatty acids help lower harmful LDL cholesterol while increasing good HDL cholesterol in the blood. Research studies suggest that a Mediterranean diet, rich in monounsaturated fatty acids, helps prevent coronary artery disease and strokes by favoring a healthy blood lipid profile.
- Cashew nuts are abundant sources of essential minerals, especially manganese, potassium, copper, iron, magnesium, zinc, and selenium, which are concentrated in these nuts. Including a handful of cashew nuts in your daily diet provides a sufficient intake of these minerals, helping to prevent deficiency diseases. Selenium is an important micronutrient that functions as a co-factor for antioxidant enzymes, such as Glutathione peroxidases, one of the most powerful antioxidants in the body. Copper acts as a co-factor for many vital enzymes, including cytochrome c-oxidase and superoxide dismutase (other minerals that function as co-factors for this enzyme include manganese and zinc). Zinc also acts as a co-factor for many enzymes that regulate growth, development, gonadal function, digestion, and DNA (nucleic acid) synthesis.
- Cashews are also rich in essential vitamins such as pantothenic acid (vitamin B5), pyridoxine (vitamin B-6), riboflavin, and thiamin (vitamin B-1). In fact, 100 grams of these nuts provide 0.147 mg or 32% of the daily-recommended levels of pyridoxine. Pyridoxine reduces the risk of homocystinuria and sideroblastic anemia, while niacin helps prevent “pellagra” or dermatitis. Additionally, these vitamins are essential for the metabolism of protein, fat, and carbohydrates at the cellular level.
- Furthermore, these nuts also contain a small amount of zeaxanthin, an important pigment flavonoid antioxidant that is selectively absorbed into the retinal macula lutea in the eyes. It is believed to provide antioxidant and protective UV ray filtering functions, helping to prevent age-related macular degeneration (ARMD) in the elderly.
Selection and storage
Cashew nuts are available in the market year-round. In stores, only shelled cashew kernels are sold since the shell contains a phenolic resin, cushion, which is a potent skin irritant toxin.
In stores, one can find raw, salted, sweetened, or candied cashews. When buying shelled nuts, look for ones that feature a bright cream-white color, are compact, uniform, and feel heavy in hand. They should be free from cracks, mold, and spots and should not have a rancid smell.
At home, store cashew kernels inside an airtight container and keep them in the refrigerator to prevent them from turning rancid. Under ideal conditions, fresh nuts should last for 5-6 months.
Our Value System
Ra Mount is a company with a clear set of values. These values include a focus on high quality, well-maintained taste, a hard-earned reputation in the industry, and a loyal and family-oriented workforce.
At Ra Mount our Vision, Mission, Goals and our Philosophy is simply guided by our Value System that’s includes:
• Commitment to Quality
• Customer’s Satisfaction
• Respect and Trust
• Fair Trade Practices
• Social Responsibility and Business Ethics
Indeed our guiding philosophy proudly makes us say that our “Cashews are Quoted with Values”
We are involved in sourcing and marketing raw cashew nuts from Africa and Asia to supply our prospective clients worldwide. The cashew tree (Anacardium Occidentale) is a tropical evergreen native to the Americas but is now widely cultivated in Asia and Africa. In its natural form, cashew is a soft, white, meaty kernel contained within the hard shells of kidney-shaped raw cashew nuts. Cashews are consumed all over the world as a snack or used as a food ingredient.
Infrastructure & Process
Infrastructure
With our Indo-African presence and professional team in place, we can ensure the quick supply of high quality raw cashew nuts, which are fully dried and Un-Mixed. We efficiently manage every stage of Raw Cashew Nut from Farm to factory as we have;
• Registered Office in Mumbai and Owned Warehouses in Ghatkopar, Maharashtra.
• Allied Channel offices / partner in every African country.
• A Team of highly trained Quality Inspectors.
• Quality Inspection toolkit and scientific equipments.
• Drying Yards and Warehouses.
• Packing, Stuffing and Loading team.
• Transporters, Transistors and Best Shipping Lines.
• Local Clearing agents in India.
• Forwarding, Warehousing and Storage Facilities.
• Logistics partner for timely distribution and delivery.
Process
Our Raw Cashew Nuts is appreciated by customers India wide for their consistent quality. We undertake detail process at every stage from Farm to Factory. Hand Picked naturally fallen raw cashews with 15-20% moisture are collected by the farmers.
• Inspection: our passionate team of highly trained inspectors on site diligently checks randomly selected raw cashew nuts in order to determine nut count and outturn.
• Drying: Raw cashews are sun dried for 1-2 days until moisture level comes down to 6-8%.
• Packing & Storage: Dried cashew nuts are packed in woven gunny sacks and stored in well ventilated rooms with giving enough space between stacks for air circulation.
• Loading & Stuffing: Thoroughly inspected dry containers are loaded and stuffed with approx. 80 kg gunny bags containing dried raw cashew nuts. In line card boards and moisture bags are adequately placed to preserve and maintain quality of raw cashew nuts. Once loaded the said containers are fumigated, sealed and weighted at Weigh Bridge.
• Shipping and Documentation: Our experience clearing house agents in Africa at loading port handles loading of goods with the best and fastest shipping line for timely delivery at best competitive rates.
• Payment and Documentation: Our esteemed customers make payment as per agreed terms and conditions and takes over the ownership of goods.
• Quality Assurance: Depending on terms and conditions for quality of raw cashew nuts third party inspectors from SGS Company and RBS agency withdrawn random samples and send quality and weight certificates as per requirements.
Export of Cashew Kernels
(i)The process
Stages of processing
Raw cashew nuts (Seeds) —Roasting (at 100 C for 10 mins) — Shelling —
Drying (In Borma for 12 hours at 80 C) —- Cooling —- Peeling —Grading —
Cashew kernels —-Packing
(ii)Grades & Specifications
Specifications of Indian cashew kernels are as per international standards. We can offer the following grades maintaining quality parameters as per CEPC / AFI standards according to the requirement of the customer/buyer.
White Wholes
W180
W210
W240
W320
W450
W500
Scorched Wholes
SW
SW180
SW210
SW240
SW320
SW450
SW500
Dessert Wholes
SSW (Scorched wholes seconds)
DW (Dessert wholes)
Brokens
White pieces
B (Butts)
S (Splits)
LWP (Large white pieces)
SWP (Small white pieces)
BB (Baby Bits)
Scorched small pieces
SB (Scorched butts)
SS (Scorched splits)
SP (Scorched pieces)
SSP (Scorched small pieces)
Dessert pieces
SPS (Scorched pieces seconds)
DP (Dessert pieces)
Grades and Classification
Cashews are graded on how white they are and how broken the kernel is. There are four color grades, four styles of break on the kernel and six sizes (or maximum number of kernels per pound)
Classification Method 1 – Classified according to grades / with or without basing on number of kernel per kilogram.
Cashew kernels have been classified according to 6 quality levels
Explanation of cashew grade terminology: The alphabets at the front represent a word descriptive of the form of cashew – W for whole, B for Broken, S for Split etc. The numbers that follow the alphabets (where present) usually represent the number of kernels per pound. Hence, to give an example, W 210 implies that it is a whole cashew kernel which gives 210 kernels per pound.