Full Project – Nutritive value, anti-nutrient and mineral composition of cashew nut (Anacardium Occidentale)

Click here to Get this Complete Project Chapter 1-5

CHAPTER ONE

1.0 INTRODUCTION

Nutrition is the study of nutrients in food, how the body uses nutrients, and the relationship between diet, health and disease. Major food manufacturers employ nutritionists and food scientists. Nutritionists may also work in journalism, education and research. Many nutritionists work in the field of food science and technology.

There is a lot of overlap between what nutritionists and dietitians do and studied. Some nutritionists work in health care, some dietitians work in the food industry, but a higher percentage of nutritionists work in the food industry and food science and technology, and a higher percentage of dietitians work in health care.

One could very loosely generalize and say that a nutritionist focuses firstly on a food, and then looks at its effects on people, while a dietician looks at the human, and then how that human’s health is influenced by food.

If I discovered a new fruit and wanted to find out what it consisted of I would go to a nutritionist. If I found out I had a long-term disease and wanted to know whether I needed to adjust my food intake because of the disease, I would go to a dietician. Please bear in mind that this very loose comparison is both subjective and possibly too geographically bound on my part (British, National Health Service), and is simply aimed at exaggerating the differences so that lay people may see some gap between the two – differences and disagreements in my interpretation will exist in different countries, within regions of a countries, and also from college to college – and many in those areas will disagree with each other.

From what I can glean from hundreds of studies and texts that I read as an editor of a medical journal, in the USA, Australia, and to a lesser extent in the UK and the Republic of Ireland, people who call themselves dietitians are more likely to have full university bachelor’s or postgraduate qualifications, while nutritionists mostly do as well, but a higher proportion may not.

(According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics), in the US, dietitians become licensed by earning the Registered Dietitian (RD) credential – administered by the Commission for Dietetic Registration and the American Dietetic Association – and are only able to use the title dietitian as described by the business and professions codes of each respective state, when they have met specific educational and work experience requirements and passed a national registration or licensure examination, respectively ( Nordqvist, 2015).

If you ask any health care professional, be it a doctor, nurse, psychologist, or dentist to identify a part of medicine that is not at all related to nutrition, there will be a long silence as they scratch their heads.

Nutrition is present in all processes of life. Right from the very moment the sperm fertilizes an egg, through fetal development in the uterus, to the birth, human growth, maturity, old age, and eventual death. Even after death the human body serves as nutrition for other organisms. Anything that involves life and chemical or biochemical movement has nutrition at its core.

Anything that lives is dependent on energy, which results from the combustion of food.

1.1 CASHEW NUT

The cashew nut (Anacardium occidentale) produces nuts, the kernels of which have increased considerably in economic importance over the past few decades. Indigenous to Brazil, the cashew was taken to West Africa, East Africa and India by the Portuguese in the 15^th and 16^th centuries. It was noticed that the tree grew well on poor sandy soils along the coastal belt and was used by the Portuguese in Africa as an anti-soil erosion measure. The tree prospered and spread naturally, particularly in East Africa and India and the progeny of this wild cashew has formed the basis of the raw material for the cashew industry. Though the plant was primarily intended for checking soil erosion, it is now mainly grown for its commercially important kernel and shell oil (Aiyadurai, 1963).

After the war in 1945, world production and consumption of cashew nut increased sharply and it soon became the world’s most important dessert nut after almonds. World consumption of cashew nuts has been increasing steadily from 125,000 tons in 1955 to 1,000,000 tons in 1995, and is estimated to be around 1,260,000 tons by the year 2005 (Ohler, 1979). The production of cashew nut has also kept pace with demand in Europe and Africa and the increase in production has been achieved mainly through extension of the area under the crop. The production of cashew nut in India, however, is far short of the capacity of the existing processing industries and consequently, the cashew industry in India has been stagnant for the past two decades. To increase yields, improved planting material and better crop management practices will have to be given some attention (Russel, 1979).

Other countries in South East Asia and the Pacific region including many islands in Indonesia where the cashew nut as well as the cashew apple are appreciated. In Malaysia, where its suitability for cultivation has been shown and the Philippines where its economic potential has yet to be exploited are some of the new areas with future potential although labor requirements seem to be prohibitive, especially in Australia where conditions also appear suitable for its cultivation.

Trends in production of cashew are also related to consumption and these in turn will depend on the world economic situation. With the increase in the standard of living in developing countries, a large consumer market is developing, especially in cashew producing countries (Ohler, 1979).

Cashew is a highly nutritious and concentrated form of food, providing a substantial amount of energy. The cashew nut kernel has a pleasant taste and flavor and can be eaten raw, fried and sometimes salted or sweetened with sugar (Manay et al., 1987). It also contributes as an important source of invisible fat in the diet, being widely used in a variety of ways. There has been a growing demand for cashew in many temperate countries where the demand is increasing (Russel, 1979). The nut contains an acrid compound which is a powerful vessicant that is abrasive to the skin. The cashew shell contains 25% of this reddish brown oil, industrially known as (CNSL) which is a by-product of the roasting process.

1.2 AIM AND OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

The object of this work was to evaluate the nutritional values, anti-nutrient and mineral composition of cashew nut (Anacardium occidentale).

The aims and objective of the project is to determine the nutritional anti-nutrient and mineral contents of the vegetable.

Nutritive value
Anti-nutrient

Mineral content

1.3 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

The statement of the problem of this work is to analyze the nutritive value, anti-nutrient and mineral composition cashew nut (Anacardiumoccidentale).

1.4 SIGNIFICANCE OF STUDY

This research work is beneficial to individual due to the nutritional value, mineral composition and other substance the vegetable possess which is in the relations to maintain good health.

1.5 DEFINITION OF TERM USED

Antinutrients are plant compounds that reduce the body’s ability to absorb essential nutrients. Tannins are important oak poisoning and act as nutritional problems. Oxalate is an organic acid in plant foods that combine with calcium to form to calcium oxalate an insoluble calcium salt limiting calcium absorption via the intestinal membrane. Phytate They can be regarded as stores for phosphate and mineral nutrients that are important for plant nutrition and especially vulnerable during germination
Nutritive value this focuses on how diseases, condition or problem can be prevented or lessened with a healthy diet.

Fiber consists mostly of carbohydrates. However because of its limited absorption by the body, not much of the sugars and starches get into the blood stream. Fiber is a crucial part of essential human nutrition. Molecules consist of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen atoms.

Carbohydrates include monosaccharides (glucose, fructose, glactose), sisaccharides, and polysaccharides (starch)

Minerals

Dietary minerals are the other chemical elements our bodies need, apart from carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen.

Potassium

What it does – a systemic (affects entire body) electrolyte, essential in co-regulating ATP (an important carrier of energy in cells in the body, also key in making RNA) with sodium.

Sodium

What it does – a systemic electrolyte, and essential in regulating ATP with potassium.

Calcium

What it does – important for muscle, heart and digestive health. Builds bone, assists in the synthesis and function of blood cells.

Magnesium

What it does – processes ATP and required for good bones.

Zinc

What it does – required by several enzymes.

Iron

What it does – required for proteins and enzymes, especially hemoglobin.

Manganese

What it does – a cofactor in enzyme functions.

Copper

What it does – component of many redox (reduction and oxidation) enzymes.

Get the Complete Project

This is a premium project material and the complete research project plus questionnaires and references can be gotten at an affordable rate of N3,000 for Nigerian clients and $8 for international clients.

Click here to Get this Complete Project Chapter 1-5

You can also check other Research here: