The Extraction and Production of Essential Oil From Cashew Nuts

The Extraction and Production of Essential Oil From Cashew Nuts

Chapter One

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

This project is aimed at the analysis of cashew nut and its oil. The main objective of this study is to carry out proximate analysis and physiochemical properties of cashew nut oil extracted by solvent methods this physiochemical properties determines are specific gravity , refractive index, pH value and value peroxide value and saponification value, to achieve the objective of this project, it is important to:

Select the best suited solvent for optimum yield.
Characterize the extracted solvent oil for composition and properties
Test the suitability of the oil.

CHAPTER TWO

LITERATURE REVIEW

CASHEW PRODUCTION

Cashew (Anacardium occidentale L.} is a tree crop of considerable economic importance to Nigeria and other tropical countries. Apart from being a source of useful products and by-products for food, medicinal and industrial applications, cashew gives also a useful shade, while ornamental and alley trees are suitable for the control of soil erosion, particularly for the protection of watersheds and dams.

LOCATIONS

Major cashew growing areas in Nigeria are, by order of importance: Enugu, Abia, Imo, Anambra, Ebonyi and Cross River States in the Eastern part of the country; Oyo, Osun, Ondo, Ekiti and Ogun States in Western part, as well as Kwara, Kogi, Nassarawa, Benue, Taraba, Nigeria and FCT in the Middle Belt and also Sokoto and Kebbi State in the North West part of the country. The majority of export quality nuts come from the western and Eastern parts of the country.

CLIMATE AND SOIL

Cashew tolerates wide range of ecological factors. The distribution of cashew is restricted to attitude below 700m where the temperature does not fall below 20^oc for prolonged periods. However, best production is noticed up to the attitude of 400m with at least 9hr sunlight/day from December – May. Cashew grows well at reasonably high temperatures and does not tolerate prolonged periods of cold and frost especially during the juvenile period. However, temperature above 36^oc is between the flowing and fruiting period could adversely affect the fruit setting and retention.

Cashew can adapt very well in the dry conditions as it is hardy and drought resistant. However, its varieties perform very well where at least a minimum of 600mm of rain is received in a year prolonged dry spells, frost foggy weather and heavy rains during flowering and initial fruit setting adversely affect fruit set and production. Cashew is very sensitive to water logging and hence heavy clay soils with poor drainage conditions are unsuitable for its cultivation. Excessive alkaline and saline soils also donnote support its growth. Other wise, cashew grows in almost all soil types and performs very well in red sandy loams, laterite soils and coastal sands. Cashew comes up well when the soil pH is in acidic range. More than 8pH is not suitable for its commercial cultivation. Though cashew is considered to be very hardy and drought resistant, it grows better where water table is high. Cashew also responds well to supplementary irrigation during the summer month (June – March).

CHAPTER THREE

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Materials Extraction

The cashew nuts obtained from a farm located at Barnawa, Kaduna state of Nigeria, were sun dried for two weeks. They were decorticated and processed by cleaning, soaked in water to avoid scorching. They were dried again and shelled to separate and obtain the kernels free of cracks. This was done manually by placing them on a flat stone and cracked with a wooden mallet. The resulted products are the kernels and the shell. 250g of both the dried kernel (AFR species) and the shell were crushed in a mortar and screened for homogeneity in size ranges.

Extraction of Oil and Analysis

Complete extraction of the oil content of Anacardium occidentale seeds and shells was carried out using the Soxhlet extractor (Konte, USA). Digital weighing balance was used to weigh samples of 5g, 10g, 15g and 20g. Each sample was introduced into the Soxhlet apparatus containing 250ml of hexane at 90⁰c for complete oil extraction.

CHAPTER FOUR

RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

The summary of the results for all the properties measured are presented in Table1 and 2 for physical and chemical properties respectively.

CHAPTER FIVE

RECOMMENDATION AND CONCLUSION

CONCLUSION

The results of this study showed that the chemical properties of cashew kernel oil are within specification for vegetable oils. This suggests its possible use as vegetable oil when refined. The oils extracted by Soxhlet apparatus using hexane as solvent has percentage yield of 25.85% of cashew nutshell liquid (CNSL) and 11.87% cashew kernel oil (CKO). The CNSL is dark brown with a choke odor while the CKO is light yellow liquid with a sweet odor. The physical and chemical properties of the CKO oil show that it is within specification for vegetable oils while the properties of the CNSL shows that it only finds application in the processing and manufacturing industries but not suitable for consumption. The PH value of the CKO is also a clear indication that the oil is nontoxic.

RECOMMENDATION

Firstly, the government should create enabling environments for the processing and marketing of the products to flourish by building a quality road networks, supply power at the area, storage facilitations, water supply and other processing equipment need by man. All this suggestion will enhance productivity, efficiency and effectiveness in the overall utilization of cashew products.
Secondly, the processors and marketers should be given access to credit facilities like loans with subsidized interest rate, grants and acts from the government and other donors. The machines for the processing should be supplied at the affordable prices.
There is need for private, NGOs and government participation for investment in cashew products processing and marketing in the study area. This would lead to mechanized system of processing techniques like machine for roasting the nut, peeling, baking and transforming the nuts into many forms like the Apple wine and juice, cashew jambs, salted nut, baked nuts will also be utilized. The CNSL would also be extracted for local and international market.
Finally, there is need for wider market creation for the distribution and supply of all the products processed from the study area. An effective and efficient marketing networks.

REFERENCES

Johnson, D. 1973. Cashew cultivation in Brazil. Agron. Mocamb. Lourenco marques 7(3): 199 – 129.
Lima, J.A.A., Menezes, M., Karan, M.de Q, and Martins, O.F.G. 1975. Genera of pathogenic nematodes isolated from the rhizophere of cashew tree, Anacardium occidentale. Fitossanidad, brazil 1(2): 32 – 35.
Nambiar, M.C. and Haridasan, M. 1979. Fertilizing cashew for high yields. Indian farming 28 (12): 16-17.
Acland, J.D. (1980). East African crops: An Introduction to the production of field and plantation crops in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. FAO Longman Group Limited London. ISBN: 0582603013.
Agricultural information center (AIC) (2002). Field crops Technical Handbook. Min of Agriculture, Nairobi, Kenya.
Behrens, R. (1996). Cashew as an Agroforestry crop prospects and potentials. Tropical Agriculture. GTZ. Margrave verlag. ISBN; 3-8236-1257-3.
Bohlen, E. (1973). Crop pests in Tanzania and their control. Federal Agency for Economic Cooperation (bfe). Verlag paul parey. ISBN: 3-4 89 – 64826-9.
Grieshabch, J. (1992). A Guide to propagation and culturation of fruit Trees in Kenya. Schriftenreihe No 230, Eschborn, Germany: GTZ. ISBN 3-88085-482-3.
Cultivating cashew nuts South African government.
Growing cashews – Queenstand, Australia government checklist.

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