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Peanut classification
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 Mexico and Central America. It is an annual herbaceous plant growing to 30 to 50 cm (1 to 1½ ft) tall. The leaves are opposite, pinnate with four leaflets (two opposite pairs; no terminal leaflet), each leaflet 1 to 7 cm (⅜ to 2¾ in) long and 1 to 3 cm (⅜ to 1 inch) broad. The flowers are a typical peaflower in shape, 2 to 4 cm (¾ to 1½ in) across, yellow with reddish veining. After pollination, the fruit develops into a legume 3 to 7 cm (1 to 2 in) long containing 1 to 4 seeds, which forces its way underground to mature.

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

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

[edit] Cultivation

Evidence demonstrates that peanuts were domesticated in prehistoric times in Mexico and Central America, where wild ancestors are still found. Archeologists have thus far dated the oldest specimens to about 7,600 years before the present.^[1] Cultivation spread as far as Mesoamerica where the Spanish conquistadors found the tlalcacahuatl (Nahuatl="earth cacao"=peanut, whence Mexican Spanish, cacahuate and French, cacahuète) being offered for sale in the marketplace of Tenochtitlan (Mexico City), as they are still offered by street vendors there today. The plant was later spread worldwide by European traders. Cultivation in the English colonies of North America was popularized by African Americans, who brought the Kikongo word "goober". In South America, the peanut (called there maní or amendoim in Brazil) is thought to have first grown in Argentina or Bolivia, where the wildest strains grow today. In fact, many pre-Columbian cultures such as the Moche, depicted peanuts in their art. .^[2]

The peanut gained Western popularity when it came to the United States from Africa. It had become popular in Africa after being brought there from Brazil by the Portuguese around 1800.

The flower of the Arachis hypogaea 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, pea-like flowers, which are borne in auxiliary 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.

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.

Harvesting peanuts occurs in two stages. First a machine is used to cut off the main root of the peanut plant by cutting through the soil just below the level of the peanut pods. Then the same machine lifts the "bush" from the ground and shakes it. Then the machine inverts the bush to leave the plant upside down on the ground to keep the peanuts out of the dirt. This allows the peanuts to slowly dry to a bit less than a third of their original moisture level over a period of 2-3 weeks while they are left updside down on the field.

After the peanuts have dried sufficiently, they will then be threshed. This removes the peanut pods from the rest of the bush.^[3]

[edit] Cultivation in China

The peanut was introduced to China by Portuguese traders in the 1600s and another variety by American missionaries in the 1800s. They became popular and are featured in many Chinese dishes, often being boiled. During the 1980s peanut production began to increase greatly so that as of 2006 China was the world's largest peanut producer. A major factor in this increase has been China's move away from a communist economic system toward a free market system so that farmers are free to grow and market their crops as they decide.^[4][5]

[edit] Cultivars

Thousands of peanut cultivars are grown, with four major Cultivar Groups being the most popular: Spanish, Runner, Virginia, and Valencia. There are also Tennessee Red and Tennessee White groups. Certain Cultivar Groups are preferred for particular uses because of differences in flavor, oil content, size, shape, and disease resistance. For many uses the different cultivars are interchangeable. Most peanuts marketed in the shell are of the Virginia type, along with some Valencias selected for large size and the attractive appearance of the shell. Spanish peanuts are used mostly for peanut candy, salted nuts, and peanut butter. Most Runners are used to make peanut butter.

The various types are distinguished by branching habit and branch length. There are numerous varieties of each type of peanut. There are two main growth forms, bunch and runner. Bunch types grow upright, while runner types grow near the ground.

Each year new cultivars of peanuts are bred and introduced somewhere in the peanut belt of the U.S. or in other countries. Introducing a new cultivar may mean change in the planting rate, adjusting the planter, harvester, dryer, cleaner, sheller, and method of marketing.

[edit] Spanish group

The small Spanish types are grown in South Africa, and in the southwestern and southeastern U.S. Prior to 1940, 90 % of the peanuts grown in Georgia were Spanish types, but the trend since then has been larger seeded, higher yielding, more disease resistant cultivars. Spanish peanuts have a higher oil content than other types of peanuts and in the U.S. are now primarily grown in Oklahoma and Texas.

Cultivars of the Spanish group include 'Dixie Spanish', 'Improved Spanish 2B', 'GFA Spanish', 'Argentine', 'Spantex', 'Spanette', 'Shaffers Spanish', 'Natal Common (Spanish)', 'White Kernel Varieties', 'Starr', 'Comet', 'Florispan', 'Spanhoma', 'Spancross', 'OLin', 'Tamspan 90', 'Spanco' and 'Wilco I'.

[edit] Runner group

Since 1940, there has been a shift to production of Runner group peanuts in the southeastern U.S. Runners are found in Georgia, Alabama, Florida, and South Carolina. This shift is due to good flavor, better roasting characteristics and higher yields when compared to Spanish types leading to food manufacturers' preference for use in peanut butter and salting.

Cultivars of Runners include 'Southeastern Runner 56-15', 'Dixie Runner', 'Early Runner', 'Virginia Bunch 67', 'Bradford Runner', 'Egyptian Giant' (also known as 'Virginia Bunch' and 'Giant'), 'Rhodesian Spanish Bunch' (Valencia and Virginia Bunch), 'North Carolina Runner 56-15', 'Georgia Green', 'Flavor Runner 458', 'Tamrun OL01', 'Tamrun OL02' and 'AT-108'.

[edit] Virginia group

The large seeded Virginia Group peanuts are grown in Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and parts of Georgia. They are increasing in popularity due to demand for large peanuts for processing, particularly for salting, confections, and roasting in the shells.

Virginia Group peanuts are either bunch or running in growth habit. The bunch type is upright to spreading. It attains a height of 45 to 55 cm (18 to 22 inches), and a spread of 70 to 80 cm (28 to 30 in), with 80 to 90 cm (33 to 36 in) rows that seldom cover the ground. The pods are borne within 5 to 10 cm of the base of the plant.

Cultivars of Virginia type peanuts include NC 7, NC 9, NC 10C, NC-V 11, VA 93B, NC 12C, VA-C 92R, Gregory, VA 98R, Perry, Wilson, Hull, VC-2 and Shulamit

[edit] Valencia group

Valencia Group peanuts are coarse, and they have heavy reddish stems and large foliage. In the U.S. large commercial production is primarily in Eastern New Mexico, but they are grown on a small scale elsewhere in the South as the best flavored and preferred type for boiled peanuts. They are comparatively tall, having a height of 125 cm (50 inches) and a spread of 75 cm (30 inches). Peanut pods are borne on pegs arising from the main stem and the side branches. Most of the pods are clustered around the base of the plant, and only a few are found several inches away. Valencia types are three seeded and smooth, with no constriction between the seeds. Seeds are oval and tightly crowded into the pods. There are two strains, one with flesh and the other with red seeds. Typical seed weight is 0.4 to 0.5 g.

[edit] Tennessee Red and Tennessee White groups

These are alike, except for the color of the seed. The plants are similar to Valencia types, except that the stems are green to greenish brown, and the pods are rough, irregular, and have a smaller proportion of kernels.

[edit] Three-lobed peanut

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Certain cultures believe in medicinal properties of three lobed peanuts. Specifically, the Zoroastrians believe that God imbues each three lobed peanut with a week of luck for anyone that eats it. Many Filipino cultures believe that the three lobed peanut, if fed to a duck, will produce double-sized eggs suitable for super-balut.

The three lobed peanut is known to be a hybrid derivative of traditional peanut blended with the black soybean.^{[citation needed]} This rare hybridization occurs less than once per 20,000,000 offspring.

[edit] Uses

Edible peanuts account for two-thirds of the total peanut use in the United States. Popular confections include salted peanuts, peanut butter (sandwiches, candy bars, and cups), peanut brittle, stir frys, beer nuts and shelled nuts (plain/roasted). 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 boiled in brine and typically eaten as a snack in the southern United States where most peanuts are grown.

Peanuts are widely used in South-East Asian cuisine, particularly Indonesia, where it is typically made into a spicy sauce. Peanuts originally came to Indonesia from Philipines, where the legume came from Mexico in times of Spanish colonization.

Common Indonesian peanut-based dishes include gado-gado, pecel, karedok and ketoprak, all vegetable salads mixed with peanut sauce, and the peanut-based dipping sauce for satay. Boiled peanuts are a popular Chinese snack and appetizer. Peanuts are also used in the Mali meat stew maafe.

Peanut oil is often used in cooking, because it has a mild flavor and burns 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 U.S. airline industry used to be a relatively large purchaser of peanuts for serving during flights (6 million lb / 3 million kg annually) before the nuts were removed from flights by many airlines (largely due to allergy concerns, but also due to cost).^[6]

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 hookbills 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 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 used as an animal feed and as a soil fertilizer.

Peanuts can also be used like other legumes and grains to make a lactose-free milk-like beverage, Peanut milk

[edit] Nutritional value

Peanut, valencia, raw Nutritional value per 100 g (3.5 oz)
Energy 570 kcal 2390 kJ
Carbohydrates 21 g - Sugars 0.0 g - Dietary fiber 9 g Fat 48 g - saturated 7 g - monounsaturated 24 g - polyunsaturated 16 g Protein 25 g Thiamin (Vit. B1) 0.6 mg 46% Riboflavin (Vit. B2) 0.3 mg 20% Niacin (Vit. B3) 12.9 mg 86% Pantothenic acid (B5) 1.8 mg 36% Vitamin B6 0.3 mg 23% Folate (Vit. B9) 246 μg 62% Vitamin C 0.0 mg 0% Calcium 62 mg 6% Iron 2 mg 16% Magnesium 184 mg 50% Phosphorus 336 mg 48% Potassium 332 mg 7% Zinc 3.3 mg 33%
Percentages are relative to US recommendations for adults. Source: USDA Nutrient database

Peanuts are a rich source of protein (roughly 30 grams per cup after roasting) and monounsaturated fat. Recent research on peanuts and nuts in general has found anti-oxidants and other chemicals that may provide health benefits.^[7] Peanuts are a significant source of resveratrol, a chemical studied for potential anti-aging effects.

Because peanuts are considered an incomplete protein, containing relatively low amounts of the essential amino acids lysine, cystine, and methionine, it is advised to be sure that a diet or meal with peanuts as a staple also include complementary foods such as whole grains.

Peanuts are also an unbalanced source of fat because they are devoid of required Omega-3 fats.^[8] Some brands of peanut butter are fortified with Omega-3 in the form of flaxseed oil to balance the ratio of Omega-3 to Omega-6.

Peanuts may be contaminated with the mold Aspergillus flavus which produces a carcinogenic substance called aflatoxin. While this substance quickly causes liver cancer in rats, humans are far more resistant. Lower quality specimens, particularly where mold is evident, are more likely to be contaminated.^[9]

[edit] Allergies

Main article: Peanut allergy

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