Abstract :
This paper investigates the effect of moisture content, nut size distribution and steam exposure time on the
Whole kernel out turn (WKO) of cashew nuts. This paper is divided into two parts. First part deals with the brief
details of cashew nut, which includes (i) present status of cashew production in India and abroad (ii) Propagation
and production of planting material, (iii) economic aspects of cashew (iv)various constraints in cashew nut
production. The second part deals with the experimental investigation on the effect of moisture content (MC), nut
size distribution, steam exposure time (SET) on Whole kernel out turn (WKO) of cashew nuts during shelling. Three
nut sizes of size varying from about 20 mm to 40mm, six levels of MC (7.6%, 9.5%, 11.6%, 12.4%, 14.8%, 16.1%
and 17.9% (wet basis) and five levels of SET were considered for the experimental study. Nuts were steam boiled at
750 kPa. From the studies, it is generally observed that the WKO values are decreasing with the increase of moisture
content. It is further felt that the studies can be extended with the combination of MC and SET to consolidate the
WKO results.
Keyword :
Moisture content, nuts, steam exposure time.