Location: Food Science and Market Quality and Handling Research Unit
Project Number: 6070-43440-013-000-D
Project Type: In-House Appropriated
Start Date: Jul 2, 2020
End Date: Jul 1, 2025
Objective:
1. Improve peanut flavor, flavor consistency and nutritional composition through integration of novel peanut genetic/genomic resources.
1A. Investigation of peanut composition using targeted and non-targeted analyses to identify compounds and metabolomic pathways of formation related to peanut flavor formation.
1B. Evaluate the flavor and quality characteristics of specific peanut varieties or breeding lines in cooperation with U.S. peanut breeders.
2. Identify commercially-viable bioactive compounds from raw/roasted peanuts and characterize their functional food attributes. [NP306, C1 PS1B]
2A. Evaluate peanut skins as an antimicrobial ingredient in livestock feed.
2B. Determination of the effectiveness of extracts from peanut skins as a natural antioxidant in preventing the onset of rancidity in peanut butter.
3. Enable the commercial use of whole high-oleic peanuts and/or by-products as a livestock (poultry, swine, and aquaculture) feed ingredient.
Approach:
The United States peanut industry generates approximately $4.4 billion annually in economic activity. With a value of over one billion dollars at the farm level, the peanut crop ranks twelfth among USA food crops, grown on approximately 7,500 farms with 1.4 billion acres producing over five billion pounds of peanuts in the shell. In addition, the peanut industry is composed of producers, shellers, and manufacturers. These manufacturers produce peanut butter, candies, confections, bakery goods and ingredients for other foods, in addition to snack peanuts. The USA peanut industry is vibrant, but the private sector relies on the USDA-ARS to increase and expand markets through continual improvement of peanuts and peanut products across all segments of the industry, from farm to processors and consumers. This project is one of only two public research programs dedicated to improving the value of the crop by enhancing flavor, nutrition, and post harvest processing using modern food science technology. The specific objectives are: Objective 1, improvement of peanut flavor, flavor consistency and nutritional composition through integration of novel peanut genetic/genomic resources; Objective 2, the identification of commercially-viable bioactive compounds from raw/roasted peanuts and peanut processing waste materials and to characterize their functional food attributes; Objective 3, to enable the commercial use of whole high-oleic peanuts and /or bi-products as a livestock feed ingredient. This research will be accomplished using chemical and molecular biological techniques and methodology as well as sensory analytical techniques.
