Peanut composition, flavor, and nutrition

Authors: Dean, Lisa; Davis, Jack

Submitted to: Peanuts: Genetics, Processing Utilization
Publication Type: Book / Chapter
Publication Acceptance Date: 12/7/2015
Publication Date: 1/20/2016
Citation: Dean, L.L., Davis, J.P. 2016. Peanut composition, flavor, and nutrition. Peanuts: Genetics, Processing Utilization. pg 289-345. doi: org/10.1016/B978-1-63067-038-2.00011-3.

Interpretive Summary: Peanut is a globally important oilseed valued as a source of high quality cooking oil. Peanuts are also appreciated worldwide as an affordable, flavorful, and nutritionally dense snack food, while also serving as a primary ingredient for peanut butter, confections, and nutritional bars, among other finished products. While amenable to a variety of processes, peanut is commonly roasted and the unique, pleasant flavor of roasted peanuts is a primary driver in consumption. As a whole food and as an ingredient, peanuts are nutritionally dense, for example, providing the highest protein content of all commonly consumed snack nuts, serving as a rich source of heart healthy, monounsaturated oil, and also providing a variety of healthy micronutrients and bioactive compounds that are becoming increasingly better understood with modern detection technologies and nutritional investigations. Research over the past approximate century has provided a foundation for understanding the underlying chemical composition of peanut, and advances over recent years with modern instrumentation continue to improve insights into this chemistry and the various chemical and physical reactions and mechanisms responsible for peanut quality. Accordingly, this chapter focuses on advances in collecting chemical/physical data on peanut and analyzing this information in the context of peanut quality, with an emphasis on delivering optimal flavor and nutrition.

Technical Abstract: Peanuts are an important source of nutrition worldwide. They are used as food, as an ingredient and as an important source of cooking oil. They are usually roasted before consumption which results in changes in nutrition, texture and flavor. The flavor is important for repeat purchases. This chapter reviews the present knowledge of the nutrients present in peanuts. It provides information about peanut protein that has never been compiled in a single publication before. It relates information about how peanuts are roasted and the processing effects on flavor, nutrition and food safety.