The history of peanuts dates back to the times of the ancient Incas of Peru. It has notably been the source of elimination of malnutrition amongst the population in many African countries in the recent years (Guimon and Guimon 2012). Peanuts are being used as the complete dietary source for people on expeditions to diverse areas like Antarctica, space and trekking. Peanuts are consumed all over the world in a wide variety of forms, most of which are traditional cuisine. China leads in production of peanuts, having a share of about 45 % of overall world production, whereas India has (16 %) share and the United States of America has (5 %) (USDA 2015) Most Runner cultivars are used to make peanut butter (Woodroof 1983). Spanish peanuts are used mostly for peanut candy, salted nuts, and peanut butter. Most peanuts marked in the shell are of the Virginia type, along with some Valencias selected for large size and the attractive appearance of the shell. For many uses the different cultivars are interchangeable however, the most popular cultivars are Spanish, Runner, Virginia and Valencia. Certain cultivars groups are preferred for particular uses because of differences in flavor, oil content, size, shape, and disease resistance. There are thousands of peanut cultivars around the world. Apart from oil, peanuts are widely used for production of peanut butter, confections, roasted peanuts, snack products, extenders in meat product formulation, soups and desserts. Peanuts are rich in protein, oil and fibers (Suchoszek-Lukaniuk et al. Although a legume it is generally included amongst the oilseeds due to its high oil content. Peanut ( Arachis hypogaea) is technically considered as pea and belongs to the family ( fabaceae) of bean/legume. India is second largest producer of peanuts in world, with total production of approximately 7.131 million metric tons per year (USDA, PS&D database 1996–2000). Peanuts or “groundnuts” as they are known in some parts of the world are the edible seeds of a legume.
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