Validation of a Method for Anacardic Acid Quantification in Cashew Peduncles via High-Performance Liquid Chromatography Coupled to a Diode-Array Detector

The cashew peduncle has a high nutritional value and contains a wide variety of phenolic compounds. Among these, anacardic acids (AnAc) are biologically active components; however, they influence the cashew juice flavor and, consequently, its acceptance. This study validates a high-performance liquid chromatography method for quantifying the AnAc present in cashew peduncles, using a C(18) reverse-phase column and a diode-array detector. The calibration curve obtained showed satisfactory precision for intraday (CV = 0.20%) and interday (CV = 0.29%) quantification, linearity (y = 2333.5x + 2956.2; r(2) = 0.9979), repeatability with respect to retention time (CV = 0.45%) and area (CV = 0.30%), and selectivity, and possessed detection and quantification limits of 0.18 and 0.85 µg·mL(−1), respectively. Different cashew clones containing AnAc were extracted and analyzed using the proposed method. A recovery of >90% was achieved using two sequential extractions. The total AnAc content ranged from 128.35 to 217.00 mg·100 g(−1) in peduncle samples obtained from five different cashew clones.