Wameron36 Posted January 3, 2013 Hiya ho, Took the dog down for a swim at the river today and on the drive home spotted a peculiar fruit in the trees and on the floor along the edge of the rainforest. Pulled over and realised they were something I'd definitely seen in one of my bushfoods books. So as it turns out they are the fruit from Semecarpus australiensis,the Australian cashew. I'm just wondering whether anyone here has had any experience with eating and preparing these guys as the sap is supposed to be very nasty on the skin, causing blistering and such. Eating fruit while not safe can do the same inside ones mouth, which as fun as it sounds I'd like to avoid. I did collect a few and have cut away the fleshy orange parts, and pod to reveal the seeds inside. I was planning on roasting these on the fire tomorrow at some point hopefully and will give a bit a try. Whilst doing this I covered my hands using plastic bags, although when cut the fruit seemed to squirt sap out quite readily and I ended up with some flicks over the legs and still ended up with a little over my hands. Initially these became quite itchy but subsided quickly and now that the sap has dried, I'm just left with some brown stains over me from the sap changing colour in the air. Hopefully nothing further will happen! Does anyone know of the fleshy orange part being edible at all also? Or is it simply just the seed inside? Thank yee Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
naja naja Posted January 4, 2013 the sap would be caustic I'd guess, much like mango sap/ Whioch can cause pretty severe burns I have heard, I'd neutralize with lemon juice or vinegar. Would be my guess anyways. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
