47.214.193.24: Wikifruit: independently reviewed article maintenance

2026-10-02T01:03:59Z

Wikifruit: independently reviewed article maintenance

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{| class="wikitable" style="float: right; width: 320px; margin-left: 1.25em; margin-bottom: 1em;"
|-
! colspan="2" style="background: #e8e8e8;" | Cajuí (''Anacardium giganteum'')
|-
! Scientific name
| ''Anacardium giganteum''
|-
! Common names
| Cajuí, caju-açu, caju-da-mata (Brazil); marañón gigante, marañón de monte, marañón amazónico (Spanish-speaking Amazon); sasha casho, añaná (Peru); wild cashew (in some English-language references; also applied to ''Anacardium excelsum'')
|-
! Genus
| [[Anacardium]]
|-
! Family
| [[Anacardiaceae]]
|-
! Order
| [[Sapindales]]
|-
! Native range
| Wet lowland forests of southern tropical America: Amazonia, the Orinoco basin, the Guianas and Pacific-coast Colombia (Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, Venezuela)
|-
! Habit
| Canopy-emergent lowland forest tree reported to about 40–50 m, with trunk diameters of 80–120 cm in dominant trees
|-
! Fruit
| Swollen edible pedicel ("cashew apple"), red to orange-red with yellowish flesh, bearing a single nut at the tip; most pedicels under 7 cm in the Pará record, 7–9 × 5–7 cm in a Colombian description
|-
! Propagation
| Seed, by direct planting or by protecting naturally recruited seedlings
|}
'''Anacardium giganteum''' — the cajuí or caju-açu of Brazil, the marañón gigante or marañón de monte of the Spanish-speaking Amazon — is an accepted species of very large forest tree in the cashew family ([[Anacardiaceae]]), native to the wet lowland forests of southern tropical America.[[#cite_note-1|[1]]][[#cite_note-2|[2]]][[#cite_note-3|[3]]] It is the giant wild relative of the cultivated cashew (''Anacardium occidentale''): the fruit is the same swollen, edible pedicel with a single nut hanging below, but the crop is gathered from the forest or informally recruited rather than grown in orchards.[[#cite_note-3|[3]]] For the Ka'apor of Maranhão the cajuí is one of the most important wild fruits gathered in the forest, and the ripe fruits are sold in season at Belém's Ver-o-Peso market.[[#cite_note-3|[3]]]

== Description ==

The cajuí is one of the giants of the cashew family: a canopy-emergent tree of upland Amazonian forest. A Colombian description gives an average height of about 25 m with a 60 cm trunk, on sites from sea level to about 500 m; a compiled reference gives up to 40 m; specimen-based measurements in the Pará flora range from 5 to 38 m; and the timber record describes dominant trees of 20–30 m with trunk diameters of 80–120 cm, while the largest field records of emergent crowns approach 40–50 m.[[#cite_note-4|[4]]][[#cite_note-5|[5]]][[#cite_note-6|[6]]][[#cite_note-7|[7]]][[#cite_note-3|[3]]]

The leaves are simple, alternate, and widely obovate, 8–23.8 cm long by 4.8–12.9 cm wide, coriaceous and concolorous, lustrous light green above, with glandular trichomes in externally glabrous to glabrescent depressions along the secondary veins on the lower surface — extrafloral nectaries, possibly domatia — and the blade pubescent to glabrescent along the primary vein. The wide, concolorous leaves and the pubescent ovary tip separate the species from the similar ''A. spruceanum''.[[#cite_note-6|[6]]]

The inflorescences are 8.8–19.3 cm long with small flowers colored as in the genus (cream, with pink or red lines); the stamens number 8–9, and the ovary is pubescent at the apex.[[#cite_note-6|[6]]]

As in the cultivated cashew, the edible part is a swollen, fleshy pedicel (the "cashew apple") that bears a single nut at its tip. Ripe pedicels are fiery red to orange-red outside with light yellow flesh and a waxy skin resembling large, smooth strawberries.[[#cite_note-3|[3]]][[#cite_note-4|[4]]] Reported size varies with the type of record: most swollen pedicels in the Pará record are under 7 cm long; a Colombian description gives the ripe pseudofruit at 7–9 cm long by 5–7 cm in diameter; a compiled reference lists a 2.5 cm fruit with a 2 cm peduncle; and the dried herbarium material of the Pará flora measures only 0.9 × 0.6 cm for the hypocarp and 2 × 2.5 cm for the drupe.[[#cite_note-3|[3]]][[#cite_note-4|[4]]][[#cite_note-5|[5]]][[#cite_note-6|[6]]] The nut itself is covered by a skin impregnated with a burning chemical, the cashew family's familiar phenolic lipids.[[#cite_note-3|[3]]][[#cite_note-4|[4]]]

== Cultivation ==

Almost all supply still comes from wild or semi-wild trees. Farmers and indigenous groups spare trees when clearing, protect seedlings, and plant seeds and seedlings in home gardens, manioc fields and agroforestry plots: the Witoto of the middle Caquetá plant the species in diverse agroforestry plots, and a farmer near Paragominas in Pará started trees from seeds gathered in nearby forest. The tree is too large and too slow to reach maturity to be of interest to most commercial growers.[[#cite_note-3|[3]]]

The native habitat is well-drained upland terra firme forest across Amazonia, the Orinoco basin, the Guianas and Pacific-coast Colombia, with scattered records from floodplain and seasonally flooded (várzea) forest and from stunted sandy vegetation (varillal/campinarana). In the timber record the species is gregarious and dominant in primary and secondary gallery forest below roughly 1,000 m elevation.[[#cite_note-6|[6]]][[#cite_note-7|[7]]] Resistance to anthracnose, a disease problem in some cashew plantations, has been noted for the species.[[#cite_note-3|[3]]]

=== Soil and water ===

The species favors well-drained ground: the timber record emphasizes well-drained soils, and the Pará flora's records come mostly from terra firme with occasional várzea.[[#cite_note-7|[7]]][[#cite_note-6|[6]]] As a genus-level inference — the cultivated evidence is drawn almost entirely from the cashew ''A. occidentale'' — ''Anacardium'' prefers well-drained soil in the pH range of about 4.5–6.5 and grows poorly in waterlogged clay or saline ground; confirm these limits for ''A. giganteum'' before treating them as fixed requirements.[[#cite_note-8|[8]]]

=== Sun and humidity ===

The cajuí is a tree of hot, humid tropical lowlands, and its wet-tropical biome and canopy-emergent habit point to full sun rather than shade at maturity.[[#cite_note-5|[5]]][[#cite_note-1|[1]]] As a genus-level pattern, ''Anacardium'' plants tolerate strong wind and seasonal drought but not maritime exposure; again, most genus evidence comes from the cultivated cashew.[[#cite_note-8|[8]]]

=== Seasonal changes ===

In the Pará herbarium record, flowers and fruits have been observed from October to March, and a compiled reference places December flowering in Brazil; in the Amazon estuary the ripe fruit falls to the forest floor toward the end of the dry season and the beginning of the rains.[[#cite_note-6|[6]]][[#cite_note-5|[5]]][[#cite_note-3|[3]]] The species follows the wet–dry rhythm of lowland Amazonia rather than a cool season. As a genus-level inference (again, mostly cashew evidence), ''Anacardium'' is not frost tolerant and prefers a pronounced dry season of about 3–4 months, so growers in marginal tropics should site the tree in frost-free, seasonally dry conditions and avoid pushing it into year-round wet ground.[[#cite_note-8|[8]]]

== Propagation ==

Propagation is by seed, and the documented routes are direct planting and the protection of naturally recruited seedlings.[[#cite_note-5|[5]]][[#cite_note-3|[3]]] No grafting, budding or cutting method is described for the species in the examined record; seed is the route available to a grower.[[#cite_note-3|[3]]]

== Flowering, fruiting, and harvest ==

Flowers and fruit have been observed from October to March in Pará, with December flowering given in a compiled reference for Brazil.[[#cite_note-6|[6]]][[#cite_note-5|[5]]] Pollination evidence is genus-level only: ''Anacardium'' flowers are reported to be pollinated by flies, bees, ants and wind, and the plants are self-fertile; most of that record comes from the cultivated cashew.[[#cite_note-8|[8]]]

In the Amazon estuary the fruit ripens toward the end of the dry season and the start of the rains; ripe pedicels fall to the forest floor, where they are gathered whole.[[#cite_note-3|[3]]] Reported fruit size varies widely by provenance and record (see Description), from pedicels mostly under 7 cm in Pará to 7–9 × 5–7 cm in the Colombian description, so treat a single size figure with caution.[[#cite_note-3|[3]]][[#cite_note-4|[4]]]

== Fruit and uses ==

The swollen pedicel is eaten fresh or squeezed for juice; the light yellow pulp is also mashed and mixed with cachaça to make a drink called batida de caju-açu, and in Belém's Ver-o-Peso market the fruit is sold in season in plastic bags of ten weighing about 1 kg.[[#cite_note-3|[3]]] Ripe fruit has a waxy red skin and light yellow flesh and has been likened to a large, smooth strawberry, with a flavor described as sweet or acid, astringent and refreshing, of moderate appeal; a nineteenth-century collector's note recorded a rather pleasant odor.[[#cite_note-3|[3]]][[#cite_note-5|[5]]][[#cite_note-4|[4]]]

A 2024 study of peduncles from two municipalities in northeastern Pará (Bragança and Augusto Corrêa) recorded an acidic juice — pH 3.38 and 3.92, titratable acidity of 1.30 and 0.73 g/100 g citric acid — with total soluble solids of 14.14° and 11.11° Brix, moisture of 86.3% and 89.4%, reducing sugars of 4.66% and 5.50% (lower than common cashew), and density near 1.00–1.01 g/mL; those figures apply to the two sampled populations.[[#cite_note-9|[9]]] A compiled reference reports the peduncle rich in vitamin C.[[#cite_note-5|[5]]]

The true nut is small but edible after roasting, as is traditional practice in the cashew family.[[#cite_note-5|[5]]][[#cite_note-4|[4]]] Handle the raw nut with care: it is covered by a skin impregnated with a burning chemical, and the nut contains a brown liquid rich in phenolic lipids (anacardic acids and resorcinols) that Amazonian communities use for coughs, warts, as a cicatrizant and against diarrhea.[[#cite_note-4|[4]]][[#cite_note-3|[3]]] Laboratory screening of a methanolic nut extract showed cytotoxic activity against human cell lines in vitro, which does not establish human toxicity.[[#cite_note-4|[4]]]

Folk medicines in the regional record include a leaf tea for inflammation in Roraima and inner-bark preparations for inflammation and wounds, and the fruit juice is regarded along the Aruá river as a treatment for stomach and intestinal complaints such as ulcers and diarrhea; these are ethnobotanical observations, not assessed efficacy.[[#cite_note-3|[3]]][[#cite_note-1|[1]]]

== References ==

* [[#cite_ref-1|↑]] '''[1]''' [https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:69177-1/general-information Kew Plants of the World Online: ''Anacardium giganteum'']. Accepted species (Fl. Bras. 12(2): 410, 1876), native range S. Tropical America, wet tropical biome, food and medicine use flags, Colombian vernaculars.

* [[#cite_ref-2|↑]] '''[2]''' [https://api.gbif.org/v1/species/match?name=Anacardium%20giganteum GBIF species match API: ''Anacardium giganteum'']. Exact accepted backbone match (usageKey 7908525), family Anacardiaceae, order Sapindales.

* [[#cite_ref-3|↑]] '''[3]''' [https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-12803-5_2 Smith, N. 2023, "Anacardiaceae" (section 2.1 ''Anacardium giganteum''), in ''Amazon Fruits: An Ethnobotanical Journey'', Springer, pp. 5–75]. Field monograph: canopy emergence to 50 m, pedicel sizes, strawberry-like ripe fruit, forest-floor gathering late dry/early rainy season, juice and batida de caju-açu, Ver-o-Peso market sales, Ka'apor gathering importance, recruitment by Witoto and Pará farmers, anthracnose resistance note, folk medicines, Spruce odor note.

* [[#cite_ref-4|↑]] '''[4]''' [https://doi.org/10.18257/raccefyn.28(109).2004.2117 Ramos, F.A., Osorio, C., Duque, C., Cordero, C., Aristizábal, F., Garzón, C., Fujimoto, Y. 2004, "Estudio químico de la nuez del marañón gigante (Anacardium giganteum)", ''Revista de la Academia Colombiana de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales'' 28(109): 565–575]. Original phytochemical study: Colombian form to 25 m / 60 cm trunk at 0–500 m, pseudofruit 7–9 × 5–7 cm orange-red exterior with light yellow interior, edible almond after roasting, brown nut liquid and traditional uses, anacardic acids and resorcinols, in-vitro cytotoxicity of the methanolic nut extract.

* [[#cite_ref-5|↑]] '''[5]''' [http://www.quisqualis.com/tvPEFC2P012.html Perennial Edible Fruits of the Tropics, entry ''Anacardium giganteum'' (Tropical Visions)]. Compiled reference (citing Cavalcante 1976, Fouqué 1974): tree to 40 m, hot humid tropical lowlands, propagation by seed, December flowering in Brazil, fruit 2.5 cm with 2 cm edible peduncle, flavor and moderate appeal, nut small but edible and rich, peduncle vitamin C.

* [[#cite_ref-6|↑]] '''[6]''' [https://www.scielo.br/j/rod/a/5rv4RXftrDyd5SS9HzwYgsy/?lang=en Flora of ''Anacardium'' (Anacardiaceae) in the state of Pará, Brazil, ''Rodriguésia'' 72 (2021)]. Original floristic treatment: tree 5–38 m, leaf dimensions and extrafloral nectaries, inflorescences 8.8–19.3 cm, genus-wide corolla pattern (cream with pink or red lines), 8–9 stamens, pubescent ovary apex, drupe 2 × 2.5 cm with dried hypocarp 0.9 × 0.6 cm, distribution in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Guyana, Peru, Suriname and Venezuela, terra firme and várzea records, flowers and fruits October–March, distinction from ''A. spruceanum''.

* [[#cite_ref-7|↑]] '''[7]''' [http://www.tropicaltimber.info/specie/caracoli-anacardium-giganteum/ Caracolí (''Anacardium giganteum''), Tropical Timber Information (ITTO)]. Timber record: dominant trees 20–30 m with trunks 80–120 cm, gallery forest below 1,000 m, well-drained soil preference, gregarious dominance in primary and secondary forest.

* [[#cite_ref-8|↑]] '''[8]''' [https://www.mdpi.com/2218-273X/9/9/465 Saleh-e-In, M.M. & Staden, J.V. 2019, "''Anacardium'' Plants: Chemical, Nutritional Composition and Biotechnological Applications", ''Biomolecules'' 9(9): 465]. Peer-reviewed genus review (mostly ''A. occidentale'' evidence): well-drained soil, pH 4.5–6.5, poor growth in waterlogged clay or saline ground, wind/insect/bee/ant pollination and self-fertility, no frost tolerance, preferred pronounced 3–4 month dry season, strong-wind tolerance without maritime exposure, moist-soil preference, drought tolerance.

* [[#cite_ref-9|↑]] '''[9]''' [https://doi.org/10.54751/revistafoco.v17n7-016 Pinheiro, H.V.A. et al. 2024, "Caracterização física e físico-química do pendúculo de cajuaçu (Anacardium giganteum)", ''Revista Foco'' 17(7) e-016]. Original laboratory characterization (abstract accessed): peduncle pH 3.38/3.92, acidity 1.30/0.73 g/100 g citric acid, TSS 14.14/11.11 °Brix, moisture 86.3/89.4%, reducing sugars 4.66/5.50%, density 1.00–1.01 g/mL, for Bragança and Augusto Corrêa samples.

[[Category:Fruits]]
[[Category:Anacardium]]

Anacardium giganteum - Revision history

47.214.193.24: Wikifruit: independently reviewed article maintenance