## 1 Introduction  
Cashews (_Anacardium occidentale_ L.) are exotic tropical fruits native to South America, with a significant volume of production in Brazil, and are widely grown in Asian and African countries [1; 2; 3]. The volume of the world's cashew production is about 4.27 million tons, and it is highly concentrated in developing countries, such as India, Brazil, and several other African countries. Because of this, it has relevant socio-economic importance [4]. While the cashew nut is the most profitable and desired part of the fruit, the cashew apple (pseudo fruit) consists of a juicy, fleshy peduncle from which cashew juice is obtained, representing 90% of the total cashew weight [5]. The economical exploitation of cashew apple is still incipient and considered as agricultural waste utilization [6]. Every year, large volumes of cashew apple are discarded due to its abundant production, but their its perishability, as stringent taste, and low commercial value compromise its effective use [7]. Although part of cashew apple production is directed toward beverage, confectionery, and bioproduct manufacturing [8], more profitable end uses are required to develop financial benefits for the cashew production chain and to add value to this overlooked agricultural commodity [9]. Indeed, cashew juice is still considered to be an exotic product in most parts of the world [10]. Despite this, scientific reports have shown that the cashew apple is rich in ascorbic acid, carotenoids, phenolic, flavonoids, fibers and other relevant phytoactive compounds [11; 12]. In addition to minerals such as iron, magnesium, sodium, phosphorus, copper, and calcium [13], the cashew apple also contains various organic acids, including gallic, cinnamic, and malic acids [14]. Due to the lack of knowledge on proper processing and repurposing technologies, in addition to not understanding the phytochemical value and market potential of the cashew apple, some producers still consider it as a mere by-product of the cashew nut industry [5]. There are several opportunities to develop cashew apple-derived functional products in a growing market that demands natural, plant-based foods and ingredients. As these emerging trends continue to evolve, manufacturers are challenged to establish innovative ways to incorporate fruit-based functional ingredients and their nutritional and health-promoting benefits into commercial formulations [15; 16]. In this regard, shelf-stable dried fruit products have gained popularity due to their convenience, nutrient density, and versatility [11]. Our research group has already demonstrated that spray drying, the most popular drying technique in the food industry, can be successfully applied to produce dried fruit-derived particles with preserved bioactive compounds and extended storage stability [17; 18; 19]. Drying carriers, such as complex carbohydrates and proteins, are used to enhance the spray drying microencapsulation performance by improving the solids recovery and modulating the storage stability and physicochemical attributes of fruit-derived products [20; 21]. For example, gum arabic is a tasteless biopolymer and popular carbohydrate-based drying carrier obtained from the exudate of Acacia trees. This odorless and tasteless carrier has a complex, highly ramified structure composed of carbohydrates with a content of 2-3% covalently bound protein. It presents functional, emulsifying, and film-forming properties with low viscosity, and represents a story of success in encapsulation applications [20; 22]. Although the microencapsulation of cashew juice has been reported in the literature, many of these studies do not disclose the performance of the spray-drying process, and important aspects related to storage stability such as the influence of different packaging materials on the shelf-life of cashew particles are often overlooked [23; 24]. Moreover, the type of drying carrier has a marked influence on the process, and several strategies remain to be investigated.