eng Enviro Research Publishers Current Agriculture Research Journal 2347-4688 2321-9971 2026-05-11 14 1 175 183 26826 article Siddhesh Pradip Salvi 1 Laxmi Narayan Mahawer 1 Heera Lal Bairwa 1 Ram Hari Meena 2 Pokhar Rawal 2 Department of Horticulture, Rajasthan College of Agriculture, Maharana Pratap University of Agriculture and Technology, Udaipur (Raj.), India Department of Soil Science, Rajasthan College of Agriculture, Maharana Pratap University of Agriculture and Technology, Udaipur (Raj.), India Department of Plant Pathology, Rajasthan College of Agriculture, Maharana Pratap University of Agriculture and Technology, Udaipur (Raj.), India Cashew is dollar earning plantation crop commercially cultivated in India, even though it is not a native species. Various pre-harvest factors could lead to significant reduction in cashew yield. In west coast region, the harvesting green cashew nuts for tender kernels for culinary purposes is a common practice, which provides appreciable returns to the growers. This research was conducted for standardizing optimal harvest stage to achieve quality tender kernels. The five growth stages according to Biologische, Bundesanstaltscale, Bundessortenamt and Chemische industry (BBCH) scale were studied as treatments with four replications in Randomized Block Design. Hand pollination was carried out and various growth parameters of cashew nut, apple and kernels along with their proximate composition and sensory attributes were determined. The cashew apple length, diameter and weight increased throughout growth stages; however, cashew nut and cashew kernel length, breadth, width and weight were found to be the highest in treatment T₃ (BBCH 719) and thereafter decreased due to moisture loss. The highest moisture content of 92.40% was observed in T₁(BBCH 715), while, protein, fat and carbohydrates were recorded to be the highest in T₅ (BBCH 7813).  The highest overall organoleptic sensory score of 8.83 was observed for treatment T₃ due to tenderness. http://www.agriculturejournal.org/volume14number1/standardization-of-optimum-harvest-stage-of-tender-cashew-kernel-for-culinary-purposes/ Mature green nuts; Maximize returns; Pre-harvest factor; Reduce losses; Traditional ingredient