The effect of roasting on the content of phenolic compounds and antioxidant properties of cashew nuts and testa was studied. Whole cashew nuts, subjected to low-temperature (LT) and high-temperature (HT) treatments, were used to determine the antioxidant activity of products. Antioxidant activities of cashew nut, kernel, and testa phenolics extracted increased as the roasting temperature increased. The highest activity, as determined by the 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging capacity, oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC), hydroxyl radical scavenging capacity, Trolox equivalent antioxidant activity (TEAC), and reducing power, was achieved when nuts were roasted at 130 °C for 33 min. Furthermore, roasting increased the total phenolic content (TPC) in both the soluble and bound extracts from whole nut, kernel, and testa but decreased that of the proanthocyanidins (PC) except for the soluble extract of cashew kernels. In addition, cashew testa afforded a higher extract yield, TPC, and PC in both soluble and bound fractions compared to that in whole nuts and kernels. Phenolic acids, namely, syringic (the predominant one), gallic, and p-coumaric acids, were identified. Flavonoids, namely, (+)-catechin, (-)-epicatechin, and epigallocatechin, were also identified, and their contents increased with increasing temperature. The results so obtained suggest that HT-short time (HTST) roasting effectively enhances the antioxidant activity of cashew nuts and testa.

Cashew nut oils, extracted from raw and roasted whole cashew nuts, were examined for their fatty acid composition, color change and oxidative stability. Fatty acids were analyzed using gas chromatography, and a spectrophotometric method was used to determine the color changes of the resultant oils. Oxidative stability was determined under accelerated oxidation conditions by employing conjugated diene (CD) and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) assays. The contents of monounsaturated (MUFA), polyunsaturated (PUFA) and saturated (SAFA) fatty acids were 61, 17 and 21%, respectively. Oleic acid was the major MUFA whereas linoleic acid was the main PUFA present in cashew nut oils. Oxidative stability of the oil as determined by CD values after 72 h of storage under Schall oven condition at 60°C was 1.08 and 0.65 for the raw and high temperature roasted cashew nut, respectively. The TBARS values, expressed as malondialdehyde equivalents decreased with increasing roasting temperature. Thus roasting of whole cashew nuts improved the oxidative stability of the resultant nut oils.

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and their antioxidant activities, depending on the type of matrix in which phenolics were embedded.