Frying Characteristics of Cashew Splits

Split cashew kernels are subjected to frying at different temperatures
(140–180C) and time of frying (0–240 s), and different product attributes such
as color, texture and sensory attributes have been determined. The dominant
wavelength or hue of raw cashew sample is 593.2 nm, while it varies between
593.0 and 600.6 nm for fried samples. Brightness decreases due to frying,
while chroma increases markedly. The instrumental texture parameters are
characterized by indices like maximum force, firmness, energy for shearing,
engineering strain at shear failure and the number of major fractures prior to
complete shearing. Raw cashew shows higher maximum force values compared
with fried samples, while the latter exhibits brittleness as evidenced by
more number of major fractures prior to shearing compared with the raw
sample. The extent of brittleness depends on the conditions of the frying
process. Sensory assessments indicate that a frying temperature between 160
and 180C and frying time of 150–180 s produce fried cashew kernel splits of
acceptable quality.