Maranon Fruit : Cashew Apple
The cashew apple. Called Maranon fruit in Central America, ripens into a yellow or crimson structure around 5-11 cm (2-414) long. The Maranon tree’s natural fruit is a kidney-shaped or boxing glove-shaped drupe that develops at the end of the cashew apple.
Maranon Fruit Origins
This fruit originated in Brazil. It is extremely popular in the United States. Particularly in nearby El Salvador. Where it is known as “Fruta de la memoria” (memory fruit).
Health Benefits Of Maranon
Cashew apples are high in calcium and iron. And have up to five times the vitamin C content of an orange .It’s utilized to produce drinks, jams, chutneys, and even alcoholic beverages. The cashew apple is classified as an accessory fruit. Since the seed develops on the fruit’s exterior rather than inside.
Nutritional Value
Cashew apples include vitamin C, which helps improve the immune system. Fiber helps regulate and cleanse the digestive tract. Potassium, which helps balance fluid levels in the body. The receptacles also offer iron to form the protein hemoglobin, which transports oxygen into circulation. Copper for the formation of connective tissues. Other minerals include magnesium, calcium, phosphorus, riboflavin, and thiamine. Cashew apples and vitamins and minerals contain tannins, which give the receptacles a bitter and astringent flavor. Tannins are known to help combat inflammation and are used to relieve the symptoms of sore throats.
Description/Taste Of Maranon Fruit
Cashew apples range in size from tiny to larger, averaging 5 to 11 centimeters in length. with a bulbous oval, conical to blocky, pyriform shape. When mature, the receptacle’s skin is thin, smooth, tight, and waxy, with golden yellow, red, and variegated red and yellow hues. The yellow flesh beneath the surface is thick, watery, meaty, spongy, and squishy, with numerous chewy, stringy threads. Cashew apples have a characteristic scent that combines fruity, sweet, and spicy aspects. And the flesh has a sweet, tropical, and vegetal flavor with astringency.
A double-hulled shell surrounds a kidney-shaped seed, the raw form of the well-known cashew “nut.” The external surface is smooth and thin. becoming olive green to light brown as it ripens. A red-brown, greasy resin coated in honeycomb-like cells lies between the outer and inner shells. When contacted, this viscous resin can produce blisters, rashes, and severe skin irritations comparable to poison ivy. The internal shell is tough and must be shattered to get the seed.
How To Eat Maranon
If you wish to eat this fruit raw, peel it first since the skin contains tiny levels of urushiol. Chew apples are cooked whole for five minutes in various regions to remove the toxins.
Seasons/Availability
Cashew apples are accessible all year in tropical areas.
Cultivation
The cashew tree is grown in tropical regions between 25°N and 25°S. It is ideally suited to hot, lowland climates with a noticeable dry season, which is also the ideal habitat for mango and tamarind plants. The typical cashew tree grows to a height of up to 14 meters, takes three years to produce, and takes eight years to yield a profit. More modern varieties, such as dwarf cashew trees, can grow to a height of up to 6 meters (20 feet), begin bearing fruit after the first year, and produce financially after three years. The dwarf species generates more than a ton of cashew nuts per hectare, while the regular cashew nut tree yields about 0.25 metric tons per hectare.
Production
In commercial orchards, cashew nut yields are further enhanced and maintained by grafting and other contemporary tree management techniques.
Toxicity
Cashews cause allergic reactions in some people. However, they are a less common allergen than tree nuts or peanuts.Consuming cashews may induce allergic responses in up to 6% of children and 3% of adults, ranging from minor discomfort to life-threatening anaphylaxis.These allergies are caused by protein in tree nuts; heating does not always eliminate or alter these proteins. Reactions to cashew and tree nuts can also develop due to unintentionally introduced nut components or residues of nuts during food processing, handling, or manufacture.
The cashew nut shell contains oil molecules that, like poison ivy, can cause contact dermatitis. These chemicals are principally phenolic lipids, anacardic acid, and cardanol.Cashews usually are not offered in the shell to customers due to the risk of dermatitis. Cardanol, quickly and cheaply recovered from discarded shells, is being studied for possible uses in nanomaterials and biotechnology.
Apple
Fresh cashew apples can be eaten raw, cooked in curries, or fermented into vinegar, citric acid, or an alcoholic beverage.In certain places, such as India and Brazil, it is also used to produce preserves, chutneys, and jams.The cashew apple is used to flavour alcoholic and nonalcoholic beverages in various nations, notably South America.
Cashew fruit juice and pulp manufacture sweets and juice, blended with alcoholic drinks such as cachaça, and as flour, milk, or cheese in Brazil.In Panama, the cashew fruit is boiled with water and sugar for an extended period to produce dulce de maraón (maraón is the Spanish word for cashew).
Because the fruit, unlike the nut, is readily damaged and has a relatively short shelf life, cashew nuts are more commonly trafficked than cashew apples. Cashew apple juice, on the other hand, may be utilized to make blended drinks.
When eating apples, the astringency is sometimes reduced by boiling them for five minutes before rinsing them in cold water. The astringency is reduced by steeping the fruit in boiling salt water for five minutes.
The fruit is considered a delicacy in Cambodia, where the plant is often planted as a decorative rather than an economic tree.
Nut Oil
Cashew nut oil is a dark yellow oil obtained by pressing cashew nuts (usually from lower-value broken bits formed accidentally during processing). It is used in cooking or as a salad dressing. A single cold pressing yields the best-grade oil.
Animal Feed
Unfit for human consumption cashew nuts, as well as wastes after oil extraction from cashew kernels, can be used to feed cattle. Cashew tree leaves can also be eaten by animals.
Other Uses Maranon fruit
In addition to the nut and fruit, the plant has various other applications. In Cambodia, the bark is used to manufacture a yellow dye, the timber is used to construct boats and houseboards,and the wood makes excellent charcoal.The shells release a black oil employed as a preservative and water-proofing agent in varnishes, cement, and as a lubricant or wood seal. Timber produces furniture, boats, packing crates, and charcoal. When exposed to air, its juice becomes black, creating indelible ink.
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