What often is called cashew fruit or «cashew apples» — are actually overgrown juicy fruit pedicels. They are yellow or red, 5-11 cm in length, pear or rhomboid-oblong shaped. Underneath the skin there is a pulp, which is yellow fibrous, very juicy, slightly astringent and sourish at taste. Such formations are called «pseudo-fruit» by plant biologists.

The true cashew fruit develops at the very end of the pedicel, after «cashew apple». It is a nut, covered with double shell. The outer one — green and smooth, contains caustic phenol resin. The inner one is similar to thick shell, covered with honeycomb like cells, underneath which lies edible nut kernel. There are many stages before the raw nut becomes finished product.

There are many stages before the raw nut becomes finished product.