PROCESS INFORMATION
Manufacture of Cashew unlike manufacture of other tree nuts is a unique and complex process. Outlined briefly below are the basic steps in manufacturing. Achal Industries Private Limited, Mangalore and Achal Cashews Private Limited, Maharashtra are among the best manufacturing facilities in India.This includes drying yards, manufacturing halls, process areas, storage place for raw materials, value-added manufacture and utilities & amenities.
Predominantly, for a typical cashew to reach an edible stage or for it to be packed to be sold, takes about 12-14 days comprising a series of intense and laborious activities.
Let me give you a peek about the process,
Drying and Yard:
Since the cashews, when procured are high in moisture it is important that It is dried to reduce the moisture content by 6 – 8% and this is usually accomplished by sun drying in peak summer on “Kadapa” slabs laid in the designated areas of our premiseThis activity is generally for 2 days/new load arrived and most critical for processing; the output for the entire year depends on this process.
Stacking and Storing:
Stacking and storing – once nice and dry, these are packed in jute gunnies and stacked for cooling at ambient temperature for up to 15 days.Process Flow of manufacturing cashew kernels
The dried and cooled nuts are then taken out for roasting and loaded into a steam cooker. The steam is let to flow through the enclosure and the raw nuts are roasted for about 15-30 minutes. The timing depends on various factors like the type of nut, quality, weather etc.
Mechanized cutting machines split the initially hard and now slightly moist yet hard-outer shell; the kernels are scooped out by hand, carefully and expertly using a simple specialised needle as a tool.
The scooped kernels are astringent in nature and may contain traces of Natural Anacardic acid and that makes it unsafe and inedible. Hence, the acidic kernels are sent into an oven, popularly called “Borma”, and roasted for 8 hrs.
Post this the nuts are edible. However, at this stage they are covered with a thin peel called the “Testa” and are not in demand because the outer peel or skin is still on.
To remove the outer peel, kernels are put into pneumatically operated peeling machine. The output is then run through the colour sorter, which separates the lot into various grades and also pieces and wholes.
Post which they are all manually segregated because of the number of variables they possess in terms of colour, texture, size and damages in processing
The next stage is grading, visual examination of each kernels for segregating them manually to meet or exceed customer expectation. The kernels are graded into 20+ commercial grades.
Visual inspection and fine tuning, manually, by the passers for accuracy and any extraneous matters. Final items are sent for heating to eliminate any microbial risks.
A dedicated packing line equipped with magnets, 2 aspirators and 2 metal detectors are used to check and inspect all kernels regardless of our grade for any metal, non-metal contamination before final packing.
The belt then leads us to a hopper and the packer meticulously fills the pouches with accurate quantity of kernels for retail and export packing.
These pouches are then vacuum flushed and filled with Inert gas for maintaining the freshness and killing any potential infestation
