PROCESSING OF CASHEW NUT (Anacardium occidentale L.) AND CASHEW NUT SHELL LIQUID WITH SUPERCRITICAL CARBON DIOXIDE AND WATER

In this work, our objective was to examine methods for processing cashew nut shell liquid and cashew shell with carbon dioxide and water. Supercritical CO2 was applied for extraction of split cashew shells and near-critical water was applied for reaction of the cashew shell material. In the extractions, it was found that a pressurization-depressurization step that was approximately 1 h gave extraction yields as high as 60%. Extraction of ground shell material gaved extraction yields as high as 90%. Composition of the extracted CNSL showed that it was similar to expressed oil so that it can be concluded that extraction with supercritical CO2 leads to an oil of high quality. Reaction of the shell material in near-critical water with a diamond-anvil cell technique showed that the material could be liquefied at 334 C and that the liquefaction products dissolved into water at about 358 C. From these results, it can be concluded that CO2 and water can be used to extract CNSL and process cashew shell material for the purpose of developing a new green chemical process.