Costa Rican cashew (Anacardium occidentale L.): Essential oils, carotenoids and bromatological analysis

Abstract

Considering cashew tree as economically relevant in Costa Rica, we extracted and characterized the essential oil from leaves and ripe cashew apple. Both oils were tested in vitro for antioxidant potential. The ripe cashew apple was also tested for carotenoid content. We performed nutritional analysis on the nutshell to assess its potential as a supplement for animal feed. Finally, the cashew nut’sfatty acid profile was also determined. Cashew tree leaves exhibited 2, 4-di-tert-butylphenol, 3-hydroxy-1, 3- diphenylpropan-1-one, and 5-methylpyrogallolin 14.14, 6.59, and 6.10 g/100 g, respectively while cashew apple volatile compounds included 2-hydroxy-4-methylvaleric acid, 1, 4-xylene, and 1- nonadeceneat relative concentrations of 13.89, 12.08, and 9.84 g/100 g, respectively. Cashew nut fat profile included oleic and linoleic acids as most prevalent with 56.26 and 14.50 g/100 g, respectively with monounsaturated fatty acids representing an average of (71.97 ± 1.49) g/100 g. Total carotenoids accounted for (2.93 ± 0.07) mg β-carotene/100 g fresh material. It was concluded that the pigment in cashews is imparted, by α-carotene and β-carotene representing 0.24 mg (8.2%) and 1.25 mg (42.5%) per 100 g sample, respectively. We also obtained average values of (2 291.2 ± 35.6) and (6 158.9 ± 136.8) μmol TE/100 g, for leaves and apple essential oils, respectively. Cashew outer shell exhibited a profile rich in fiber (NDF and ADF 38.46 and 27.67 g/100 g, respectively) and crude fat (16.00 g/100 g). Furthermore, we assessed the residue to input a 57.3% of digestible energy. We concluded essential oil to have antioxidant potential and the cashew nut shell to prove potential as a feed supplement.