Cashew nut agro-industrial pilot plant

This small-scale facility is designed to carry out experimental tests and develop food production processes at an industrial level. These plants make it possible to test concepts, adjust processes and assess the technical and economic viability of new technologies or food products before they are implemented on a large scale in industry. Cashew nut processing can be summarized in four main stages: 1) Receiving and weighing, drying the nut, cleaning and washing, sorting and cooking the nut (autoclave process, cooling and drying the nut); 2) Cutting the nut shell, dehydrating and expanding the kernel; 3) Shelling the kernels, selecting and sorting; and 4) Toasting and packaging. When laying out the pilot plant, a number of considerations need to be taken into account to allow for an efficient layout of equipment and space in general. In addition, this integral approach will not only make it possible to improve cashew nut production, but also to provide valuable information on the economic viability and sustainability of the process, offering valuable information to interested producers and companies.