Difference between revisions of "Peanut" - New World Encyclopedia

From New World Encyclopedia
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== Uses ==
 
== Uses ==
[[Image:Peanut products.jpg|thumb|300px|Peanuts are found in a wide range of grocery products.]]
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Peanuts for edible uses account for two-thirds of the total peanut consumption in the United States. The principal uses are salted, shelled nuts, [[peanut butter]] (popular in [[peanut butter and jelly sandwich|sandwiches]]), [[peanut brittle]], [[candy bar]]s, and nuts that have been roasted in the shell. Salted peanuts are usually roasted in oil and packed in retail size, plastic bags or hermetically sealed cans. Dry roasted, salted peanuts are also marketed in significant quantities. The primary use of peanut butter is in the home, but large quantities are also used in the commercial manufacture of sandwiches, candy, and bakery products. [[Boiled peanuts]] are a preparation of raw, unshelled green peanuts typically eaten as a snack in the southern United States where most peanuts are grown. [[Peanut oil]] is often used in cooking, because it has a mild flavor and burns only at a relatively high temperature. Under the name ''[[Plumpy'nut]]'' 100 g (3.5 ounces), two small bags per day are given by the [[World Health Organization]] as a surviving base to many children in Africa. Peanuts are often a major ingredient in [[mixed nuts]] because of their inexpensiveness compared to [[Brazil nut]]s, [[cashew]]s, [[walnut]]s, and so on.  The US airline industry used to be a relatively large purchaser of peanuts for serving during flights (6 million pounds annually) before the nuts were banned on many flights (largely due to allergy concerns). [http://www.tufts.edu/tie/tci/airtravel.htm]
 
Peanuts for edible uses account for two-thirds of the total peanut consumption in the United States. The principal uses are salted, shelled nuts, [[peanut butter]] (popular in [[peanut butter and jelly sandwich|sandwiches]]), [[peanut brittle]], [[candy bar]]s, and nuts that have been roasted in the shell. Salted peanuts are usually roasted in oil and packed in retail size, plastic bags or hermetically sealed cans. Dry roasted, salted peanuts are also marketed in significant quantities. The primary use of peanut butter is in the home, but large quantities are also used in the commercial manufacture of sandwiches, candy, and bakery products. [[Boiled peanuts]] are a preparation of raw, unshelled green peanuts typically eaten as a snack in the southern United States where most peanuts are grown. [[Peanut oil]] is often used in cooking, because it has a mild flavor and burns only at a relatively high temperature. Under the name ''[[Plumpy'nut]]'' 100 g (3.5 ounces), two small bags per day are given by the [[World Health Organization]] as a surviving base to many children in Africa. Peanuts are often a major ingredient in [[mixed nuts]] because of their inexpensiveness compared to [[Brazil nut]]s, [[cashew]]s, [[walnut]]s, and so on.  The US airline industry used to be a relatively large purchaser of peanuts for serving during flights (6 million pounds annually) before the nuts were banned on many flights (largely due to allergy concerns). [http://www.tufts.edu/tie/tci/airtravel.htm]
 
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[[Image:Peanut products.jpg|thumb|300px|left|Peanuts are found in a wide range of grocery products.]]
Peanuts are also very widely sold for garden [[bird]] feeding. Low grade or culled peanuts not suitable for the edible market are used in the production of peanut oil, seed and feed, although some owners of pet [[hookbill]]s avoid these kinds for that reason.
 
  
 
Peanuts have a variety of industrial end uses. Paint, varnish, lubricating oil, leather dressings, furniture polish, insecticides, and nitroglycerin are made from peanut oil. Soap is made from [[Saponification|saponified]] oil, and many cosmetics contain peanut oil and its derivatives. The protein portion of the oil is used in the manufacture of some textile fibers.
 
Peanuts have a variety of industrial end uses. Paint, varnish, lubricating oil, leather dressings, furniture polish, insecticides, and nitroglycerin are made from peanut oil. Soap is made from [[Saponification|saponified]] oil, and many cosmetics contain peanut oil and its derivatives. The protein portion of the oil is used in the manufacture of some textile fibers.

Revision as of 04:05, 7 August 2006

Peanut
Koeh-163.jpg
Peanut (Arachis hypogea)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Magnoliophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Fabales
Family: Fabaceae
Subfamily:: Faboideae
Tribe: Aeschynomeneae
Genus: Arachis
Species: A. hypogaea
Binomial name
Arachis hypogaea
L.

The peanut or groundnut (Arachis hypogaea) is a species in the legume family (Fabaceae) native to South America.

Although considered a nut in the culinary sense, in the botanical sense the fruit of the peanut is a woody, indehiscent legume or pod and not a true nut.

Peanuts are also known as earthnuts, goobers, goober peas, pindas, jack nuts, pinders, manila nuts and monkey nuts (the last of these is often used to mean the entire pod, not just the seeds).

Cultivation

The peanut plant is an annual herbaceous plant growing to 30 to 50 cm (one to one and a half feet) tall. The flower is borne above ground and after it withers, the stalk elongates, bends down, and forces the ovary underground. When the seed is mature, the inner lining of the pods (called the seed coat) changes color from white to a reddish brown. The entire plant, including most of the roots, is removed from the soil during harvesting.

The pods begin in the orange veined, yellow petaled, pealike flowers, which are borne in axillary clusters above ground. Following self-pollination, the flowers fade. The stalks at the bases of the ovaries, called pegs, elongate rapidly, and turn downward to bury the fruits several inches in the ground to complete their development.

The pods act in nutrient absorption. The fruits have wrinkled shells that are constricted between the two to three seeds. The mature seeds resemble other legume seeds, such as beans, but they have paper-thin seed coats, as opposed to the usual, hard legume seed coats.

Peanuts grow best in light, sandy loam soil. They require five months of warm weather, and an annual rainfall of 500 to 1000 mm (20 to 40 in) or the equivalent in irrigation water.

Peanut leaves and freshly dug pods

The pods ripen 120 to 150 days after the seeds are planted. If the crop is harvested too early, the pods will be unripe. If they are harvested late, the pods will snap off at the stalk, and will remain in the soil.

Peanuts are particularly susceptible to contamination during growth and storage. Poor storage of peanuts can lead to an infection by the mold fungus Aspergillus flavus, releasing the toxic substance aflatoxin. The aflatoxin producing molds exist throughout the peanut growing areas and may produce aflatoxin in peanuts when conditions are favorable to fungal growth.


Peanuts, showing legumes, one split open revealing two seeds with their brown seed coats

History

Evidence demonstrates that the peanut was first cultivated in prehistoric times in South America (perhaps in Brazil or Argentina), where wild ancestors are still found. Cultivation spread as far as Mesoamerica where the Spanish conquistadores found the tlalcacahuatl (Nahuatl="earth cacao"=peanut, whence Mexican Spanish, cacahuate) being offered for sale in the marketplace of Tenochtitlan (Mexico City), as they are still offered by street vendors there today.

Uses

Peanuts for edible uses account for two-thirds of the total peanut consumption in the United States. The principal uses are salted, shelled nuts, peanut butter (popular in sandwiches), peanut brittle, candy bars, and nuts that have been roasted in the shell. Salted peanuts are usually roasted in oil and packed in retail size, plastic bags or hermetically sealed cans. Dry roasted, salted peanuts are also marketed in significant quantities. The primary use of peanut butter is in the home, but large quantities are also used in the commercial manufacture of sandwiches, candy, and bakery products. Boiled peanuts are a preparation of raw, unshelled green peanuts typically eaten as a snack in the southern United States where most peanuts are grown. Peanut oil is often used in cooking, because it has a mild flavor and burns only at a relatively high temperature. Under the name Plumpy'nut 100 g (3.5 ounces), two small bags per day are given by the World Health Organization as a surviving base to many children in Africa. Peanuts are often a major ingredient in mixed nuts because of their inexpensiveness compared to Brazil nuts, cashews, walnuts, and so on. The US airline industry used to be a relatively large purchaser of peanuts for serving during flights (6 million pounds annually) before the nuts were banned on many flights (largely due to allergy concerns). [1]

Peanuts are found in a wide range of grocery products.

Peanuts have a variety of industrial end uses. Paint, varnish, lubricating oil, leather dressings, furniture polish, insecticides, and nitroglycerin are made from peanut oil. Soap is made from saponified oil, and many cosmetics contain peanut oil and its derivatives. The protein portion of the oil is used in the manufacture of some textile fibers.

Peanut shells are put to use in the manufacture of plastic, wallboard, abrasives, and fuel. They are also used to make cellulose (used in rayon and paper) and mucilage (glue).

Peanut plant tops are used to make hay. The protein cake (oilcake meal) residue from oil processing is utilized as an animal feed and as a soil fertilizer.

Allergies

Some information in this article or section has not been verified and may not be reliable.
Please check for inaccuracies, and modify and cite sources as needed.

Although many people enjoy foods made with peanuts, some people have severe allergic reactions to peanuts. For people with peanut allergy, exposure can cause fatal anaphylactic shock. For these individuals, eating a single peanut or just breathing the dust from peanuts can cause a fatal reaction. An allergic reaction also can be triggered by eating foods that have been processed with machines that have previously processed peanuts, making avoiding such foods difficult.

A theory of the development of peanut allergy has to do with the way that peanuts are processed in North America versus other countries like China and India. Peanuts are widely eaten in China and India but the prevalence of peanut allergies is almost unheard of there. Soheila J. Maleki, PhD, from the United States Department of Agriculture discovered that roasting peanuts as is more commonly done in North America causes the major peanut allergen Ara h2 to become a stronger digestive enzyme inhibitor and more resistant to digestion. Boiling peanuts, as is more commonly done in China, does not cause this effect. Though the allergy can last a lifetime, new research has shown that almost 25% of children will outgrow a peanut allergy. Some school districts have banned peanuts, and there is now an experimental drug being tested to combat this allergy, called TNX-901.

As the peanut is a member of the pea family unrelated to other nuts, individuals with peanut allergies may not be allergic to the other types of nuts, and vice-versa.

Peanuts are a rich source of proteins (roughly 30 grams per cup after roasting) and Monounsaturated fat. Recent research on peanuts and nuts in general have shown their health benefits. [2] Peanuts are a significant source of resveratrol. A handful of peanuts contains approximately 70 micrograms of this curative substance. Resveratrol is also present in red wine, grapes and the Chinese plant Polygonum cuspidatum (cholican).

References
ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

  • "Peanut"[3]
  • [4]Virgina-Carlolina Peanuts
  • [5] Asia
  • Butterworth, J. & Wu, X., "China, Peoples Republic of Oilseeds and Products China's Peanut Sector" 2003 USDA Foreign Agricultural Service GAIN Report
  • Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) "Peanut Program" [6]
  • Yao, G., "Peanut Production and Utilization in the People's Republic of China" 2004[www.lanra.uga.edu/peanut/download/china.pdf pdf]

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