OUR PRODUCTS
Gbadurabi Farms
Cashew nut, a native crop of Brazil, was introduced in Nigeria by the Portuguese during the latter half of the 16th century for the purpose of afforestation and soil conservation.
From its humble beginning as a crop intended to check soil erosion, cashew has emerged as a major foreign exchange earner next only to tea and coffee. Cashew nut is one of the important nuts grown in the world and ranked first.
Among various nuts such as hazelnuts, almonds; cashew nut enjoys an unenviable position and it is an unavoidable snack in all important social functions especially in the western countries.
Commercial cultivation of cashew is taken up in major cashew growing states of Nigeria by no order of importance. These states are Enugu, Abia, Imo, Anambra, Ebonyi and Cross Rivers in the Eastern part of the country; Oyo, Osun, Ondo, Ekiti and Ogun in the Western part, as well as Kwara, Kogi, Nassarawa, Benue, Taraba, Niger and FCT in the Middle Belt and Sokoto and Kebbi in the North Western part of the country. The majority of export quality nuts come from the Western and Eastern parts of the country.
The cashew tree is a multipurpose species, and cashew products have a wide range of uses. It takes three years total from sowing cashew seeds to harvesting the fruits off the tree. The kernel of the cashew nut, the pseudo fruit (cashew apple) and the leaves are edible. Almost all parts of the cashew tree are reported to have ethno medicinal properties.
Below are the different products of Cashew;
Cashew nuts
(Kernels) must be extracted from their poisonous shell with caution in order not to be contaminated by the toxic substances embedded in the mesocarp. Once extracted from the nut, the kernels are roasted to destroy the remaining toxins.
The kernels are a nutritious food as they contain large amounts of fats, protein, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals.
Discarded cashew
nuts are nuts unfit for human consumption. In the literature they are often referred to as cashew nut meal or cashew nut reject meal.
They are used to feed livestock.
Cashew apples
(Pseudo fruit) are too fragile to be suitable for transport and relished only in areas of local production.
They can be eaten fresh in salads, pressed to make juices, cooked in syrup or made into jams to preserve them.
Cashew nut oil Meal/Cake
Cashew nut oil cake, is the residue of the oil extraction from kernels.
It is suitable for livestock feeding.
Cashew pulp
Cashew pulp is the residue of the separation of the nut from the pseudo fruit, and cashew bagasse (cashew pomace, cashew apple waste) is the residue of the juice extraction from the pseudo fruit.
Both products are suitable for livestock feeding. It should be noted that the term “cashew pulp” is ambiguous and sometimes used for the bagasse
Cashew tree leaves
Cashew tree leaves can be cut and eaten fresh or cooked.
Cashew tree timber
Cashew tree timber provides good firewood and can make valuable charcoal.
The nut shells can be burnt to produce heat to be used in the processing of Cashew Nut Shell Liquid.
Cashew Nut Shell Liquid (CNSL)
Cashew Nut Shell Liquid (CNSL), also known as cashew shell oil, is contained in the fruit mesocarp. It is a mixture of 70% anacardic acid (a salicylic acid analog, and a strong skin irritant) with 18% cardol, and 5% cardanol.
The two latter components are caustic phenolic substances that readily polymerize and are used for epoxy resins, varnishes, and many high-tech materials that can withstand high temperatures, such as brake linings.
CNSL is also used as a pesticide against termites in timber, and the bark gum is repellent to insects.
Cashew nut testae
Cashew nut testae are the red skins that are manually or mechanically removed in the final step of preparing cashew nuts for confectionery.
These skins may contain pieces of broken kernels and can be used as feed.