Paramashivappa

J. Agric. Food Chem. 2001, 49, 2548−2551

2548

Novel Method for Isolation of Major Phenolic Constituents from
Cashew (Anacardium occidentale L.) Nut Shell Liquid
R. Paramashivappa, P. Phani Kumar, P. J. Vithayathil, and A. Srinivasa Rao*
Vittal Mallya Scientific Research Foundation, P.O. Box 406, K. R. Road, Bangalore - 560 004, India

Commercially available cashew (Anacardium occidentale L.) nut shell liquid (CNSL) mainly contains the phenolic constituents anacardic acid, cardol, and cardanol. These phenolic constituents are themselves heterogeneous, and each of them contains saturated, monoene, diene, and trienes in the fifteen-carbon side chain. This communication describes the separation of anacardic acid, cardol, and cardanol for industrial application. Anacardic acid was selectively isolated as calcium anacardate.
The acid-free CNSL was treated with liquor ammonia and extracted with hexane/ethyl acetate (98:
2) to separate the mono phenolic component, cardanol. Subsequently, ammonia solution was extracted with ethyl acetate/hexane (80:20) to obtain cardol.
Keywords: Anacardic acid; cardol; cardanol; calcium salt; cashew nut shell liquid; Anacardium occidentale L.
INTRODUCTION

Cashew (Anacardium occidentale L.) is one of the well-known species of the Anacardiaceae family. India is the largest producer and exporter of cashew kernel, accounting for almost 50% of world exports. In 19981999 alone 75,000 metric tons of cashew kernel was exported to different countries such as the U.S., Netherlands, U.K., Japan, U.A.E., and France. This amount is almost 100 times the amount of 1988-1989 exports
(courtesy: Cashew Export Promotion Council of India,
Cochin). The other important cashew nut producing countries are Brazil, Mozambique, Tanzania, and Kenya. Cashew nut shell liquid (CNSL), a byproduct obtained during the processing of cashew nuts, is used in the manufacture of industrially important products such as cement, specialty