Peanuts As a Functional Food Ingredient.

The seeds of the peanut plant have long been prized for their pleasant roasted flavor and well as their significant contents of high quality protein and favorable lipid profiles. They are widely grown in the US from Virginia, across the south and as far west as California. At present, they represent a value of over a billion dollars at the farm level. Despite their high caloric levels, newer cultivars are now in wide spread production with fatty acid profiles similar to olive oil. Peanut lipids containing up to 80 % oleic acid are currently being produced. Seeds that lack the functional fatty acid dehydrogenase genes that encode the enzyme that converts oleic to linoleic acid have been introduced by conventional peanut plant breeding programs into commercial lines. These seeds have increased oxidative stability due to the reduced amounts of polyunsaturated fatty acids present. Peanuts also contain significant levels of niacin, folates and Vitamin E. In addition, current research in human nutrition has shown peanuts and peanut containing foods have health effects ranging from increased satiety to vasodilation. While the roasted seed is the most familiar part of the plant for food use, peanut flour, peanut protein isolates, peanut oil and even peanut skins can be utilized to make appealing and health promoting processed products. Consumer acceptance of products containing peanut seed and other parts of the peanut plant is high, but there are still challenges for routine use. The increasing incidences of peanut allergies in the US population have prevented wide spread usage of peanut as a food ingredient, but therapy regimes using peanut have also has measurable success. Usage of peanut seeds, skins, shells, and other plant parts increases the value of the peanut crop and results in a reduction in agricultural waste material.