Today we’re going to look at the cashew fruit, called caju in Portuguese.

Known as acayu or aca-iu, this fruit grows in the Northeast of Brazil. It grows on a tree averaging 10 – 12 meters tall, and the fruit grows from red flowers. The fruit that emerges is the “false fruit” known as the cashew apple, a reddish orange fruit that averages 5 -11 centimeters long. It has a very strong smell and a sweet taste, with very delicate skin.

The actual fruit grows at the end of the false fruit, which contains a large seed that holds the cashew nut. The shell of the seed has a toxin that can cause severe skin irritation in humans. The false fruit is used to make juice, honey, dried fruit, pastries, and non-alcoholic drinks, while the real fruit is eaten for the nut, plain, salted or caramelized.

The toxin on the seed is used for treating tooth abcesses, since it kills certain types of bacteria. Parts of the cashew plant can also be used for medicinal purposes, since the bark is an anti-diarrheal and seeds can be used as anti-venom against snake bites.