Biochemical evaluation of cashew apple (Anacardium occidentale L.) under terai agro-climatic zone of West Bengal

In India the production of cashew nut is about 7.25 lakh tons per year and more than 60 lakh tones of cashew apple is produced per year though less than 10% is utilised in reality. Many experts have recognized nutritional and economic value of the cashew apple, despite the nutritional richness of cashew apple juice, it remains underutilized in commercial processing, mainly due to inadequate varietal characterization and limited research on juice quality parameters. To investigate the performance of cashew apple out of its cultivated tracts, an experiment was conducted at terai region of West Bengal under the Department of Plantation Crops and Processing, Faculty of Horticulture, UBKV, Pundibari, Cooch Behar, to study seven varieties of cashew apple namely Vengurla-1, Vengurla-4, K-22-1, Kanaka, Ullal-4, BPP-4 and BPP-8 in Completely Randomised Design with three replications. The biochemical properties of cashew apple juice including juice recovery, total soluble solid, titrable acidity, reducing sugar, total sugar, and ascorbic acid content, impact the quantity and quality of processed products. The present findings revealed that the cashew apple juice content varied from 66.75% (Vengurla-1) to 81.68% (BPP-4). The ascorbic acid content ranged from 181.48 mg/100g (K-22-1) to 251.30 mg/100g (Vengurla-1), difference of total soluble solid from 8.44°B (Kanaka) to 11.26°B (K-22-1), titrable acidity varied from 0.22% (Vengurla-1) to 0.41% (Kanaka), reducing sugar ranged from 6.54% (K-22-1) to 9.59% (Vengurla-4) and total sugar varied from 7.64% (Kanaka) to 10.71% (Vengurla-4) also varied widely in all the varieties. This study providing comparative data on key biochemical attributes, which are critical for selecting suitable varieties for juice-based product development. The scientific basis for enhancing cashew apple utilization, contributing to waste reduction, rural income generation, and diversification of the cashew value chain.