This document provides an overview of the process for mechanized small-scale cashew nut processing, including equipment and capabilities. It describes the key steps: pre-cleaning and sorting raw cashews, steam cooking, shelling, borma treatment for drying and humidifying kernels, peeling, grading, conditioning, inspection, sanitization, and final packing. Mechanization has increased efficiency and output while reducing labor requirements at each stage. The detailed process allows for cashew kernels to be immediately packed and exported according to strict quality standards.

1. Plant for Processing Cashew Nuts on a
Small Scale: Equipment and Capability
● With the advent of automation in cashew processing at the start of the twenty-first
century, the raw cashew nut processing sector has advanced quickly.
● Unit processes such as bulk steam humidification, tray drying, and steam roasting of
RCN have turned the industry from a cottage level to a mechanized one, allowing
processors to build up huge capacity units.
● Mechanized shelling has spared workers from the dangerous and detrimental
consequences of CNSL. Furthermore, peeling mechanization has increased output and
speed by enabling tedious, labor-intensive hand peeling.
● The labor-intensive, hard-to-find, highly skilled labor requirements for grading have been
replaced with optical color sorters, which grade and sort kernels accurately and quickly.
This has made it possible for us to immediately pack sorted cashews for export while
adhering to strict export quality criteria.
● Cashew shelling, peeling, grading, and packing can now be done with a minimum of
labor—roughly 6.5 to 0.75 workers per bag of 80 kg of input RCN—thanks to
mechanization.
● The ability to rely less on highly trained and specialized labor has allowed African
nations to heavily encourage cashew processing as a means of increasing the value of
RCN harvested.
● Mechanization has advanced to the point that it can meet the need for skilled labor
and/or reduce dependency on it while increasing productivity. Furthermore, by the simple
use of mechanization and contemporary technology, it has greatly aided the new African
processors in making up for the years they have lost in processing skill understanding.
● The cashew industry's mechanization contributed significantly to employment creation,
increased the value of the raw cashew nuts that were gathered, and earn forex for their
country to boost their GDP.
Cashew kernels are obtained by the following processing methods:
Raw Cashew Nut Pre-cleaning and De-stoning & sizing:

2. ● Calibration of the hydro or dry RCN pre-cleaner RCN sizing system.
The capacity of the RCN Sizing System and the wet and dry De-stoning System
are both tailored to meet the required shelling capacity per hour.
● Mechanised shelling machines are hampered by dust, soil, stones, and
immature nuts in Raw Cashew Nuts (RCN), which results in damage and
downtime. To ensure that shelling in machines continues without
interruption, RCN must be precleaned using a wet or dry de-stoning
technique.
● RCN scaling (calibration) can be performed, at the processor's discretion,
either prior to or after RCN steam cooking. Because the shelling machines
are built with sensitive RCN sizes for consistent, ideal shelling yield quality,
RCN sizing is required.
Tools required :
➢ For RCN steam cooking, use a steam boiler.
➢ Cooking appliance
➢ chilling silos
The steam boiler and cooker vessel capacity is selected to satisfy the shelling
capacity needed for each shift.
Additionally, the heating coil in the tray dryer—Borma—receives steam from the
boiler, which also humidifies the skin on the kernel.
uncooked cashewnut Steam-boiling pre-cleaned, de-stoned, calibrated, and
warehouse-stored items take roughly 10 to 12 minutes in the boiler (without
pressurising the cooking vessel with steam). The length of time the steam
cooking takes depends on the cashewnut's state and the ambient air conditions.
As a result of the steam ingestion and expansion of the nut's shell, the nut
becomes moistened and loses its surface CNSL. Following steam-cooked, the
nuts are air-cured (cooled) overnight by spreading the nuts on the floor in the
shade.

3. Steam boiling causes the nutshell to become harder and more suitable for shelling by
expanding the shell around the embedded cashew kernel and removing oil from the surface,
which can cause interference during shelling.
The cut shells of the cashew nutshell liquid are produced by the steam cooking technique,
which maintains the original colour of the cashew kernel imbedded inside the nut (CNSL).
Steam cooking is a batch technique that involves adding steam to the cooker vessel and then
draining the oil that the steam ejected from the surface.
Shelling :
➢ Automated shelling apparatus
➢ Pneumatic and mechanised vibratory sieve separator shell
➢ Automated scooping mechanism
When separated, use a colour sorter to separate kernels intermingled with shells.
The uncooked, air-cooled, and steam-cooked Cashew nuts are shelled using a
motorised machine that separates the shell from the kernel in an integrated
shelling line that is designed to produce large quantities of shelled nuts based on
size. Additionally, roller separators are used to separate uncut and unscooped
RCN with embedded kernels for additional processing.
When compared to manual shelling, mechanisation significantly reduces labour
requirements by enabling the shelling of nuts up to scooping at speeds of 300,
600, and 1200 kg per hour per shelling line.
Borma Treatment :
Trolley, tray and dryer tray
supply of steam from the boiler's moisture metre
Following the process of shelling, the kernels must be dried using hot air to break
the red skin (testa) that is attached to the kernel and make it easier to peel
(remove) the inedible red skin.
For bulk tray drying of shelled skin on kernels, steam is heated in dryers with
large capacities—500 kg, 1000 kg, and 20,000 kg each batch—at a temperature

4. of 75 to 80 degrees Celsius for ten to twelve hours per batch. The proportion of
kernel moisture decreases to roughly 4%.
Humidification
Humidity chamber with steam
Tray and waggon
The moisture metre
Steam Supply from Boiler
The cashew kernels treated with borma are steam humidified, or moistened, to a
degree of roughly 5.5%. Based on the moisture content of the input kernels that
are handled and the state of the atmosphere, cashew kernel trays are stored in
trays and loaded onto trolleys for a steam humidifier in a closed room for a
predetermined amount of time.
After heat treatment, the dark skin (testa) of the humidified kernel shrinks as a
result of the abrupt cooling. In the process of pneumatic peeling, this aids in
releasing the skin's attachment to the kernel.
Peeling :
Air compressor-powered pneumatic peeling machine
Excellent calibrator for dividing kernels into bits and wholes
To separate partially or fully peeled kernels, use a colour sorter.
The skin on a tray of dried and humidified cashew kernels is placed into the input
hopper of a pneumatic peeling machine.
To peel the kernel skin, the kernels are placed into a vertical cylinder and
exposed to high air pressure for a brief period of time through a series of
high-pressure air nozzles.
The kernel that has been peeled is gathered at the base of the peeling machine,
and the peeling husk that was produced is removed.
About 75% of the fully peeled kernels and 10% of broken ones are produced by
the peeling machine.

5. Kernels that are partially or fully peeled are separated using a colour sorter and
then peel by hand.
Grading :
Shape, size, and colour are the three factors used to grade the kernels in an
optical colour sorter with compressor and UPS. International Standards and
Specifications are adhered to. Global recognition has been accorded to the
Grade Specification & Colour chart by the Cashew Export Promotion Council of
India.
With extreme speed and accuracy, an optical cashew colour sorter selects one at
a time to satisfy the colour sorter's programming and the kernel's requirements.
Conditioning :
The moisture metre
Dryer tray humidifier
The maximum moisture content allowed in graded cashew kernels at the time of
final packing is 3 to 5% by weight. This is because moisture content higher than
5% might lead to the growth of fungi and facilitate infestation. Conversely, low
moisture content is not what you want. Process control methods should be
appropriately implemented to limit the moisture content between 4 and 5% as it
causes kernel breaking during shipping.
Cashew kernels are heat-treated to remove excess moisture, and if necessary,
they are humidified to add moisture to the proper amount.
Inspection & UV/IR sanitization :
System of UV and IR Sanitation
After being graded and prepared for the desired final moisture content, cashew
kernels are visually examined on an inspection conveyor. Any rejects are then
physically removed. Next, the kernels are run through a magnetic and X-ray
foreign matter detector to detect ferrous materials.
After being examined and having any foreign matter removed, kernels are put
through an IR/UV sanitising system to get rid of any infection and guarantee a

6. significant decrease in the hazardous bacterial and virus load that the current
pandemic environment requires.
Kernel Filling & Packing.
Gas ports and a bulk pouch packaging machine for the intake of nitrogen and
carbon dioxide
Digital scale
Weigh fill and seal machines are used in both manual and automatic modes.
Following IR/UV sanitation, cashew kernels are packed for ultimate shipment
right away. They are bulk packed in multilayer pouches with a net weight of 25 or
50 pounds (11.34 or 22,68 kg) in vacuumized and inert gases, which are nitrogen
and carbon dioxide infused, pouched, sealed airtight, and placed into cartons.
This prolongs the shelf life of cashew kernels throughout transportation and
storage until they are eaten and guarantees that infestation in a packed tin
container is prevented.
Pouches A carton contains a 2 X 25 LBS or 1 X 50 LBS pouch that is strapped,
labelled for export, and packed.