Peanut

Literature References: Ripe, underground pods with seeds of Arachis hypogaea L., Leguminosae. Habit. Parana River Valley in Paraguay, Brazil and Argentina. Cultivated in the reasonably warm regions of all continents, e.g., through the southern U.S.A. Composition: pericarp (shell) 21-29%, episperm (skin) 1.95-3.2%, kernel (+ germ) 71-75%. Botanically the peanut is kin to peas and beans, but its constituents are more like those of true nuts. Constit. of kernels (roasted with skin): proteins 26.2%, oil 48.7%, water 1.8%, carbohydrates 20.6%, ash 2.7%. The chief proteins are arachin (25% in oil-free meal) and conarchin (8%). Both are globulins of different soly: Johns, Jones, J. Biol. Chem. 28, 77 (1916). The vitamin content of peanuts is moderate, the largest portion being in the episperm. Trace mineral content of kernels: iron 20 mg/kg; manganese 8.51 mg/kg; copper 6.8 mg/kg; zinc 16 mg/kg. Reviews: J. Adam, Les Plantes a Matiere Grasse, vol. 3, L'Arachide (Paris, 1947); N. J. Morris, F. G. Dollear, Abstract Bibliography of the Chemistry and Technology of Peanuts, Southern Regional Res. Lab. (New Orleans, 1949); J. G. Woodruff, C. T. Young in Kirk-Othmer Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology vol. 14 (Interscience, New York, 1967) p 122.

Use: In peanut butter, candy; as salted peanuts; for fodder and seeding; crushed for oil. Peanut proteins have been used to produce a fiber, Sarelon. The shells are used in the manuf of furfural, xylose, cellulose, plastics, mucilage, also in fertilizers and cattle feed.