Olga Anne Amon Adouko¹, Souleymane Traoré^1,, Edith Adouko Agbo¹, Brou Kouakou¹

We investigated the physicochemical, functional properties and in vitro digestibility of cashew kernel-based flour. Study was conducted on kernels of cashew nuts harvested from fields. Technological treatments have been applied to these kernels: cooking (100°C/30 min), roasting (120°C/20 min). Flours obtained after kernel grinding namely, FTA, FAC, FRA and FIA have been used for physicochemical, functional properties and digestibility analysis. Results showed that technological treatments had a significant influence on studied parameters. Protein contents of FTA (20.42 ± 0.50 %) and FAC (19.23 ± 0.02 %) are lower than those of FRA (21.85 ± 0.04 %). Total carbohydrate content showed the same trends. In addition, FAC showed the lowest lipid content. We established the decrease of sodium and zinc content in treated flour compared to raw flour: FTA (1.09 ± 0.23 % vs 1.20 ± 0.34 %), FAC (0.87 ± 0.12 % vs 1.20 ± 0.34 %), FIA (1.02 ± 0.30 % vs 1.20 ± 0.34 %) for sodium and FTA (0.80 ± 0.11 % vs 0.85 ± 0.08 %), FAC (0.50 ± 0.08 % vs 0.85 ± 0.08 %), FIA (0.49 ± 0.07 % vs 0.85 ± 0.08 %) for zinc. Functional properties showed a significant decrease of oil absorption capacity and water solubility index. In addition, total carbohydrate content showed the same trends. Digestibility results have shown that FAC has the lowest hydrolysis percentage than FTA, FRA and FIA. The study shows that different cashew flours obtained are the real sources of energy and are very digestible. These flours can be use for supplemented cereal flour.