Author : Fuertes, Librada L.; Aragon, Corazon T.; Bathan, Bates M.; Billedo, Nikka Marie P.; Paller, Rebeka A.

Summary : Palawan is the top cashew-producing province in the Philippines. It is also regarded as the country’s cashew capital (Palawan is country’s cashew capital 2011). Ninety percent of the country’s total cashew production are from Palawan with municipalities such as Roxas, El Nido, and Dumaran as the top three cashew producing municipalities. With Palawan’s abundance of this fruit, cashew is the One Town, One Product (OTOP) of the province.

Despite being the country’s leading producer of cashew, the problem of low income is still realized by many of the cashew farmers in the past (Palawan is country’s cashew capital 2011). This was partly attributed to the underutilization of the cashew fruit since only the nuts were utilized. The cashew apple’s flesh is seldom eaten fresh due to its high astringency, therefore the cashew apple, which constitutes 90% of the fruit was thrown away after the removal of nuts. This occurs due to the farmer’s lack of knowledge of its processing potential.