Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: The present investigation was carried out at the Department of Post Harvest Management of Fruit, Vegetable and Flower Crops, Post Graduate Institute of Post Harvest Management, Killa-Roha, Dist. Raigad during 2025-26. Cashew is a hardy tropical tree crop commonly grown in the coastal regions of India. Cashew kernel is enclosed within a hard, honeycomb-like shell, which is generally considered as waste material after kernel removal. The four maturity stages (719, 811, 813, 819) of variety Vengurla-4 of cashew nut, according to the Biologische Bundesanstalt, Bundessortenamt and Chemische Industrie scale, were studied as treatments with three replications in a Factorial Completely Randomized Design, and cashew nut shell liquid was extracted from the cashew shells at each maturity stage. Two extraction methods, cold solvent and Soxhlet extraction were used with four solvents (acetone, ethyl acetate, n-hexane and petroleum ether). The highest (32.86%) recovery of cashew nut shell liquid was obtained using acetone as solvent with the Soxhlet extraction method from shells of mature cashew nuts (Maturity stage- 819). Maturity had a significant influence on quality parameters of cashew nut shell liquid; moisture content and saponification value decreased, while specific gravity and viscosity increased towards the maturity. The phenolic profile also altered with maturity, wherein cardanol content increased and cardol content decreased towards maturity.
Language: English
Subfield: Organic Chemistry
Field: Chemistry
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W7224855116