Cashew Nut Shell Liquid
CNSL is a resinous phenolic substance that is highly corrosive and produces blisters, particularly on the fingers of workers who shell the nuts manually. Fresh cashew nuts should never be eaten raw, neither should they be broken before being processed (Small, 2011). It is necessary to wear gloves or use mechanical/chemical processes during kernel extraction (ITDG, 2002).
Cashew nuts
Ground cashew nuts have been reported to cause diarrhoea if fed in large amounts to calves and dairy cows (Göhl, 1982).
Cashew apple ethanol intoxication
Cattle consuming fallen cashew apples at the time of harvest were reported to have difficulties in rumination and dizziness, due to possible ethanol intoxication (Assis et al., 2009). In Brazil, several cases of cattle poisoning due to cashew apples have been reported (Ribeiro Filho et al., 2012). Most of the outbreaks occurred after animals were allowed to eat fresh cashew apples ad libitum. It was suggested that cashew apple poisoning could be due to ethanol production in the rumen by fermentation (Ribeiro Filho et al., 2012). However, the poisoning lasts only a few hours, is reversible without treatment and seems to be non-lethal (Ribeiro Filho et al., 2012).