''Anacardium othonianum'' is a tree native from the tropical savanna (''cerrado'') region of

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

, whose fruit is similar to (but smaller than) that of the common

cashew The cashew tree (''Anacardium occidentale'') is a tropical evergreen tree native to South America in the genus '' Anacardium'' that produces the cashew seed and the cashew apple accessory fruit. The tree can grow as tall as , but the dwarf c ...

tree ('' A. occidentale'') of the

Brazilian Northeast The Northeast Region of Brazil ( pt, Região Nordeste do Brasil; ) is one of the five official and political regions of the country according to the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics. Of Brazil's twenty-six states, it comprises n ...

. It is locally known by the Tupi-derived name ''cajuí'', and by the

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Port ...

names ''caju-de-árvore-do-cerrado'' ("tree cashew of the cerrado"), ''caju-vermelho-de-goiás'' ("red cashew from Goiás"),Julio S. Inglez de Souza, Aristeu Mendes Peixoto, Francisco Ferraz de Toledo () ''Enciclopédia Agrícola Brasileira'', volume 2, p.76 ''cajuzinho-do-cerrado'' or just ''cajuzinho'' ("little cashew").Tânia da Silveira Agostini-Costa, Juliana Pereira Faria, Ronaldo Veloso Naves, and Roberto Fontes Vieira (2006),
Cajus do Cerrado
'. Chapter 8 of R. F. Vieira el al., eds. (2006)
Futas Nativas da Região Centro-Oeste do Brasil
'. EMBRAPA. The species name honors Brazilian botanist Othon Xavier de Brito Machado.

Description and habitat

The tree grows wild in the central region of Brazil, mostly in the state of

Goiás Goiás () is a Brazilian state located in the Center-West region. Goiás borders the Federal District and the states of (from north clockwise) Tocantins, Bahia, Minas Gerais, Mato Grosso do Sul and Mato Grosso. The state capital is Goiânia. ...

. In the wild, the adult tree ranges from 2 to 6

metres The metre ( British spelling) or meter ( American spelling; see spelling differences) (from the French unit , from the Greek noun , "measure"), symbol m, is the primary unit of length in the International System of Units (SI), though its pr ...

(3 m on average), and produces from 200 to 600 fruits every season. The bark is dark and fissured.W. Manso de Almeida (2011)
O Cajuzinho da Serra de Jaraguá
'' The leaves (which are reddish when young) are smooth and

obovate The following is a list of terms which are used to describe leaf morphology in the description and taxonomy of plants. Leaves may be simple (a single leaf blade or lamina) or compound (with several leaflets). The edge of the leaf may be regular ...

, measuring about 15 by 10 cm, with 4 to 8 mm long stalks. The small pink flowers (4 to 8 mm) are gathered in

panicle A panicle is a much-branched inflorescence. (softcover ). Some authors distinguish it from a compound spike inflorescence, by requiring that the flowers (and fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is ...

s about 20 cm wide, and are pollinated by bees and wasps. The

pear Pears are fruits produced and consumed around the world, growing on a tree and harvested in the Northern Hemisphere in late summer into October. The pear tree and shrub are a species of genus ''Pyrus'' , in the family Rosaceae, bearing the p ...

-shaped edible "fruit" — technically a pseudofruit, an

achene An achene (; ), also sometimes called akene and occasionally achenium or achenocarp, is a type of simple dry fruit produced by many species of flowering plants. Achenes are monocarpellate (formed from one carpel) and indehiscent (they do not op ...

that develops from the flower stalk — is light red when mature, 2 to 3 cm wide by 2 to 4 cm long weighing between 5 and 10

gram The gram (originally gramme; SI unit symbol g) is a unit of mass in the International System of Units (SI) equal to one one thousandth of a kilogram. Originally defined as of 1795 as "the absolute weight of a volume of pure water equal to ...

s. As in the common cashew, the true fruit is a kidney-shaped

drupe In botany, a drupe (or stone fruit) is an indehiscent fruit in which an outer fleshy part ( exocarp, or skin, and mesocarp, or flesh) surrounds a single shell (the ''pit'', ''stone'', or '' pyrena'') of hardened endocarp with a seed (''kerne ...

, 15 to 20 mm long and 12 to 15 mm wide, that hangs from the base of the achene: it encloses a single seed covered by a hard capsule, which may be green gray, or dark brown. The fruit's skin contains a strongly irritating oil composed mostly of

anacardic acid Anacardic acids are phenolic lipids, chemical compounds found in the shell of the cashew nut (''Anacardium occidentale''). An acid form of urushiol, they also cause an allergic skin rash on contact, known as urushiol-induced contact dermatitis. An ...

, cardol,

cardanol Cardanol is a phenolic lipid obtained from anacardic acid, the main component of cashew nutshell liquid (CNSL), a byproduct of cashew nut processing. Cardanol finds use in the chemical industry in resins, coatings, frictional materials, and surf ...

and other

aromatic compound Aromatic compounds, also known as "mono- and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons", are organic compounds containing one or more aromatic rings. The parent member of aromatic compounds is benzene. The word "aromatic" originates from the past grouping ...

s. The tree is found at altitudes between 380m and 1100m, mostly above 780m; it prefers

acidic soil Soil pH is a measure of the acidity or basicity (alkalinity) of a soil. Soil pH is a key characteristic that can be used to make informative analysis both qualitative and quantitatively regarding soil characteristics. pH is defined as the neg ...

s (pH 4,5-6,5) and tolerates

drought A drought is defined as drier than normal conditions.Douville, H., K. Raghavan, J. Renwick, R.P. Allan, P.A. Arias, M. Barlow, R. Cerezo-Mota, A. Cherchi, T.Y. Gan, J. Gergis, D. Jiang, A. Khan, W. Pokam Mba, D. Rosenfeld, J. Tierney, an ...

s and poor soils. It is easily propagated from seeds.Lima, R. E. (2008) ''Influência do teor de água e do armazenamento na germinação de sementes de caju-de-árvore-do-cerrado (Anacardium othonianum Rizz.), visando a produção de mudas para a recuperação de áreas degradadas.'' Monograph, 2008, 27 p. Monografia, Centro Federal de Educação Tecnológica de Rio Verde, Goiás. It flowers between June and October; fruits mature in September and October, and can be harvested two or three years after planting.

Uses

The tree is not grown commercially yet, but is commonly found in farms and the wild. The pseudofruits are eaten locally; they are rich in

vitamin C Vitamin C (also known as ascorbic acid and ascorbate) is a water-soluble vitamin found in citrus and other fruits and vegetables, also sold as a dietary supplement and as a topical 'serum' ingredient to treat melasma (dark pigment spots) a ...

and

soluble In chemistry, solubility is the ability of a substance, the solute, to form a solution with another substance, the solvent. Insolubility is the opposite property, the inability of the solute to form such a solution. The extent of the solub ...

and

insoluble fiber Dietary fiber (in British English fibre) or roughage is the portion of plant-derived food that cannot be completely broken down by human digestive enzymes. Dietary fibers are diverse in chemical composition, and can be grouped generally by the ...

. They are said to be tastier than those of the common cashew, for being sweeter and free from

astringency An astringent (sometimes called adstringent) is a chemical that shrinks or constricts body tissues. The word derives from the Latin ''adstringere'', which means "to bind fast". Calamine lotion, witch hazel, and yerba mansa, a Californian pl ...

. Because of their short

shelf life Shelf life is the length of time that a commodity may be stored without becoming unfit for use, consumption, or sale. In other words, it might refer to whether a commodity should no longer be on a pantry shelf (unfit for use), or no longer on a ...

(about 10 days when refrigerated) their consumption is mostly confined to the cerrado region. They are also used for

juice Juice is a drink made from the extraction or pressing of the natural liquid contained in fruit and vegetables. It can also refer to liquids that are flavored with concentrate or other biological food sources, such as meat or seafood, such ...

s, sherbets,

candied fruit Candied fruit, also known as glacé fruit, is whole fruit, smaller pieces of fruit, or pieces of peel, placed in heated sugar syrup, which absorbs the moisture from within the fruit and eventually preserves it. Depending on the size and type o ...

jam Jam is a type of fruit preserve. Jam or Jammed may also refer to: Other common meanings * A firearm malfunction * Block signals ** Radio jamming ** Radar jamming and deception ** Mobile phone jammer ** Echolocation jamming Arts and enterta ...

s, and

preserve The word preserve may refer to: Common uses * Fruit preserves, a type of sweet spread or condiment * Nature reserve, an area of importance for wildlife, flora, fauna or other special interest, usually protected Arts, entertainment, and media ...

s, mostly by local cottage industries. The toasted nut is edible and similar to the common

cashew nut The cashew tree (''Anacardium occidentale'') is a tropical evergreen tree native to South America in the genus '' Anacardium'' that produces the cashew seed and the cashew apple accessory fruit. The tree can grow as tall as , but the dwarf c ...

. Its fatty fraction consists mostly of

ester In chemistry, an ester is a compound derived from an oxoacid (organic or inorganic) in which at least one hydroxyl group () is replaced by an alkoxy group (), as in the substitution reaction of a carboxylic acid and an alcohol. Glycerides ...

s of the

oleic Oleic acid is a fatty acid that occurs naturally in various animal and vegetable fats and oils. It is an odorless, colorless oil, although commercial samples may be yellowish. In chemical terms, oleic acid is classified as a monounsaturated omega ...

(60%) and

linoleic Linoleic acid (LA) is an organic compound with the formula COOH(CH2)7CH=CHCH2CH=CH(CH2)4CH3. Both alkene groups are ''cis''. It is a fatty acid sometimes denoted 18:2 (n-6) or 18:2 ''cis''-9,12. A linoleate is a salt or ester of this acid. L ...

(21%) acids. The tea from its bark or leaves is used in the local

folk medicine Traditional medicine (also known as indigenous medicine or folk medicine) comprises medical aspects of traditional knowledge that developed over generations within the folk beliefs of various societies, including indigenous peoples, before the ...

against

diarrhea Diarrhea, also spelled diarrhoea, is the condition of having at least three loose, liquid, or watery bowel movements each day. It often lasts for a few days and can result in dehydration due to fluid loss. Signs of dehydration often begin ...

Naves et al. (1992) and as

gargle Gargling is the act of bubbling liquid in the mouth. It is also the washing of one's mouth and throat with a liquid, such as mouthwash, that is kept in motion by breathing through it with a gurgling sound. A traditional home remedy of gargling ...

for throat infections. The

resin In polymer chemistry and materials science, resin is a solid or highly viscous substance of plant or synthetic origin that is typically convertible into polymers. Resins are usually mixtures of organic compounds. This article focuses on n ...

can be used as

expectorant Mucoactive agents are a class of chemical agents that aid in the clearance of mucus or sputum from the upper and lower airways, including the lungs, bronchi, and trachea. Mucoactive drugs include expectorants, mucolytics, mucoregulators, and mucok ...

.Pinto (1993) The

root In vascular plants, the roots are the organs of a plant that are modified to provide anchorage for the plant and take in water and nutrients into the plant body, which allows plants to grow taller and faster. They are most often below the sur ...

is used as a

purgative Laxatives, purgatives, or aperients are substances that loosen stools and increase bowel movements. They are used to treat and prevent constipation. Laxatives vary as to how they work and the side effects they may have. Certain stimulant, lubri ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q4750638 othonianum Endemic flora of Brazil Flora of the Cerrado Medicinal plants of South America