Cashews in Panama, Maranon
Posted by Lee on May 4, 2007
It is likely the Cashew tress was introduced to Panama by the Spanish and it has take hold. I have not seen Maranon trees in Boquete but try the lowlands and they are in fruit right now.
“The cashew is peculiar and versatile: It produces not only an edible nut but also a nutritive, edible “apple” and valuable nut shell oil.
The cashew fruit consists of two distinct parts: The first part is the fleshy, pear-shaped stalk, known as the cashew apple which is juicy, thick-skinned, brilliant yellow, red, or scarlet color, and about two to four and one-half inches in length.
The cashew fruit actually looks more like a pear than an apple and in many regions of Brazil the cashew apple is referred to as the “pera”. The second is the grayish-brown, kidney-shaped nut which is about one to one and one-half inches long. It is attached to the lower end of the apple. Cashew nuts are the true fruit, while the cashew apple, about eight to ten times as heavy as the nut, is the swollen stalk, or peduncle, which supports the flower.” Nutsonline
We discovered these Maranon trees at the Decameron Resort, hence the nice label on the tree. One of the employees there found me struggeling to open a nut shell and explained it was futile that then open when roasted. We later found bagged cashews at Quesos Chela and tried them, the were unsalted, and very tasty. Another natural bounty from Panama, cashews available now from a tree in the lowlands.
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The nut is good, but the “pear” is better. The juice is wonderful too. The cashew is a wonder fruit.
I have never in my life been introduced to this fruit, nor have i ever known where cashews come from. All i know is that one day my mother
came home with an unusual fruit i have never heard of and said “try this”.
I hesitated, tried it, and on top of that my mother said the oil in the nut attached is “good for your skin”. Believing my mother, like a good daughter should, i tried it. My eyes and cheeks swelled like golf balls, i broke out in a rash. The doctor had to give me a steroid shot. Basically i am still suffering. This happenend a week and a half ago. Right now, where my eyes swelled, they are purple, the blood has pooled under the skin. I will NEVER in the rest of my life eat or go near this fruit!!!!!!
i lve in small town by San Carlos 1hr 1/2 from Panama City. The maranon trees grows as wild plan inland the country. People use it as fence for thei properties.
The harvest is between Feb-May sometimes Jun. The juice from the fruit it’s very popular in our country, people says that is very healthy and refresh your body in a hot weather. The people bbq the seads and comes the delicious cashew, handcraft procesing, no as fancy as the planters but good.
We don;t make business out of them but we enjoyed so much
oh goodness vel,i couldn’t help but laugh,sorry not laughing at your woes but every one who knows this fruit well knows it has acidic tendencies in the nut when its fresh,after grilling or baking the nut it’s safe but the fresh nut will make u hurt,your mom shouldn’t tell u to try things she doesn’t know about,shame on her.
I ate this fruit many times when I was a kid. My dad lived in guatemala for a few years and we had a few trees in the house we lived in. wow the best fruit I have ever tasted. since we left this country I have never eaten it again. I now live in vegas and it has been over 30 years since I had it. does anybody know where I can buy it here in the states?? let me know.