Little details on cashew nuts of Benin and west Africa in general

BENIN CASHEW AND THE REASON FOR ITS DEMAND IN INDIA AND OTHER CONTINENTS. THE CASHEW NUT OF BENIN IS CONSIDERED TO BE OF ONE OF THE BEST QUALITY RAW CASHEW-NUT IN THE WORLD.

COMMODITY DRIED CASHEW NUT IN SHELL FROM THE CROP OF BENIN

METHOD OF VALUING MINIMUM OUT TURN –47-48 LBS / 80 KGS BAG [LQLW]

NUT COUNT – 180 APPX.

DEFECTIVE NUTS – 10% MAX

MOISTURE – 10% MAX

ADMIXTURE – 1 % MAX

Cashew Nut Specifications

The crop season in West Africa is from March to June.

There is not a general standard for cashew nuts but some parameters can establish the quality of the cashew and the appreciation on the market

1 - Out-turn / Yield

It is the quantity of cashew kernel that can be obtained after decorticating (remove the shell of a cashew nut) 80 kg of raw cashew nuts. The count is in pounds per 80kg.

A good out turn is from 43 to 48 lbs

An excellent out turn is from 48 to 55 lbs

2-. Nut count

It is the number or raw cashew nuts per kg

170 excellent

180-190 very good

190-200 good

200-210 middle

210-220 low middle

230 limit acceptable

lower: poor

Please note that:

- It is necessary to balance this information with the out-turn

- In West Africa most of the raw cashew nuts, depending the year, have a nut count from 190 to 210.

3- Moisture / Humidity

For export 12% and less otherwise there are risks for the goods during the shipping

4- Foreign matter 5% max

5- Defective Lower than 10%

6- Float Rate

This is the total number of cashew nuts that will float when poured into water. A good float rate is 18%max

METHOD FOR CALCULATING NET OUT TURN OF CASHEW

• SMALL LOT WE CAN TAKE SMALL QUANTITIES FROM DIFFERENT LOCATIONS OF THE SAMPLE AND MIX THEM WELL AND GET A SAMPLE OF 1KG.

• • SAMPLE SHOULD REPRESENT THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LOT.

• • IT SHOULD BE RANDOM SAMPLE.

• • BIG CASHEW NUT : 0 – 168 CASHEW NUTS/1KG

• • MEDIUM CASHEW NUT: 169 – 199 CASHEW NUTS/1KG

• • SMALL CASHEW NUT: 200 – E CASHEW NUTS/1KG.

• • TAKE A RANDOM SAMPLE OF CASHEW NUTS OF 1KG WEIGHT.

• • THE SAMPLE SHOULD BE WELL DRIED ( HUMIDITY APPROX 8-8.5%).

• • CUT THE SAMPLE NUTS THROUGH THE LINE OF INTERSECTION SHELL AND THE KERNEL

• • SEPARATE SHELL FROM KERNELS ( KERNELS SHOULD CONTAIN PEEL ALSO , PEEL IS CONSIDERED TO BE A PART OF THE KERNEL WHILE CALCULATE THE OUT-TURN).

• • SEPARATE THE KERNELS INTO DIFFERENT GRADES FOR OUT TURN LIKE GOOD KERNELS, SPOTTED KERNELS, BAD KERNELS, PREMATURE KERNELS, HUMIDIFIED KERNELS.

• • WEIGH ALL GRADES SEPARATELY WITH AN ELECTRONIC BALANCE.

• • DIFFERENT GRADES HAVE DIFFERENT % OF USEFUL KERNELS TO CALCULATE OUT-TURN

– GOOD KERNELS – 100%

– DOTTED KERNELS – 50%

– BAD KERNELS – 0 %

– PREMATURE KERNELS- 50%

– HUMIDIFIED KERNELS – 20 %

• CALCULATE TOTAL USEFUL KERNELS WEIGHT USE FOR OUT-TURN

• USEFUL KERNEL WEIGHT = GOOD KERNELS (100%)+DOTTED KERNELS (50%) +

• BAD KERNELS (0%) +PREMATURE KERNELS ( 50%)+

HUMIDIFIED KERNELS (20%).

• CALCULATE OUT-TURN

• OUTTURN = TOTAL USEFUL KERNEL WEIGHT ( IN GRAMS)*80 /454

•

NOTE : OUT- TURN IS ALWAYS EXPRESSED IN LBS UNITS.

• FOLLOWING DATA WITH AN EXAMPLE WILL EXPLAIN YOU BETTER

• GOOD KERNELS = 240 GRAMS

• DOTTED KERNELS = 15 GRAMS

• BAD KERNELS = 10 GRAMS

• PREMATURE KERNELS = 16 GRAMS

• HUMIDIFIED KERNELS = 10 GRAMS

• FIRST CALCULATE TOTAL USEFUL GOOD KERNELS

• GOOD KERNELS (100%)+DOTTED KERNELS (50%) + BAD KERNELS (0%) +PREMATURE KERNELS ( 50%)+ HUMIDIFIED KERNELS (20%).

• TOTAL USEFUL KERNELS = 240+7.5+0+8+2 = 257.5 GMS

•

OUTTURN = TOTAL USEFUL KERNELS WEIGHT * 80 / 454

• = 257.5 * 80 / 454

• = 45.37 LBS QUALITY

THIS IS FOR YOUR INFORMATION AND RECORDS,