Optimization of steaming, drying, and tempering pretreatments for improving shelling of extra-large cashew nuts

In this research, the response surface methodology with a polynomial model was used to represent the experimental data of the combination of steaming, drying, and tempering process for extra-large cashew nuts. The desired values of pre-treatment conditions minimize the broken kernel percentage and maximize the shelling capacity to achieve cost effectiveness. In the this study, the steaming, drying, and tempering conditions were optimized for the minimization of the broken kernel percentage and the maximization of the shelling capacity of extra-large cashew nuts (bigger than 32 mm). The optimal conditions were steaming temperature at 100 ℃ for 38 min, then drying at 70 ℃ for 30 min, and finally tempering for 4 h. Under these conditions, the minimal broken kernel and maximal shelling capacity achieved were 2.45 ± 0.24% and 14.58 ± 0.35 kg/h, respectively.