The bark and leaves of the tree are used medicinally, the cashew nut has international appeal and market value, and even the shell around the nut is used medicinally. The cashew fruit is very peculiar as it really isn't a fruit at all. Cashew Fruit is actually a swollen peduncle that grows behind the real fruit which yields the cashew nut. Native to the northeast coast of Brazil, cashew was domesticated long before the arrival of Europeans at the end of the fifteenth century. The cashew tree and its nuts and fruit had been used for centuries by the Indigenous Tribes.
Indigeous use is well documented.
The Tikuna tribe in northwest Amazonia considers the fruit juice to be medicinal against influenza. The pseudo-fruit is the pulpy part is used. In cosmetics, it is considered as a rich source of vitamin C, which is the focus of a great deal of research and is indicated as one of the substances capable of capturing free radicals. In addition, the high amount of mineral salts gives cashew fruit skin remineralizing properties. It also has some conditioning activity due to its proteins and mucilage.