Wang - Peanut Processing Characteristics and Quality Evaluation

Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2018

Qiang Wang 1

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Keywords

Peanut is a kind of plant ( Arachis ) which originates in the South American continent and belongs to legume and Faboideae. The cultispecies peanut ( Arachis hypogaea ) is the only species cultivated widely in the peanut, and the others are all wild relatives and are rarely cultivated or used. At present, it is generally believed that Bolivia and Amazonian basin (area) is the original centers of cultispecies peanuts; the cultispecies peanuts were divided into two subspecies and six variants internationally, and the cultispecies peanuts were divided into two groups, five types, eight variety groups, and several variety groups (Yu ) in China. The worldwide peanut production is widely distributed in Asia, Europe, Africa, the Americas, Oceania, and other regions in the world. In 2014, the worldwide peanut planting area was 26,541,660 ha, and the production quantity was 43,915,365 tons; the countries whose planting areas were ranked in the top six places were India, China, Nigeria, Sudan, the United Republic of Tanzania, Senegal, and the countries whose production quantity were ranked in the top six places were China, India, Nigeria, the United States, Sudan, and the United Republic of Tanzania. In 2014, the peanut planting area was 4,625,494 ha, and the production quantity was 165,500,213 tons in China, respectively, accounting for 17.4 and 37.69% in the peanut planting area and production quantity of the world and ranking first in the world (FAO statistics).

China has rich peanut variety resources and wide peanut planting area. Except for Qinghai and Ningxia, peanuts are widely cultivated in China, and the cultivation regions are mainly concentrated in the Huang-Huai-Hai basin, the southeast coastal, and the Yangtze river basin, respectively, accounting for about 50%, 20%, and 15% in the planting area and yield of the whole country. At present, about 55% of the peanuts in China are used for oil extraction, 30% for food, 7% for exports, and 8% for seed reservation. In 2010, the total export volume of peanut and its products in the world was 2,680,000 tons and that of China was 530,000 tons, accounting for 19.77% (the shelled peanut volume accounted for 47%) in the total peanut trade volume of the world. Good edible and nutritional quality (large grain, sugar content, O/L) make the peanuts, and their processed products of China to be loved by foreign consumers and occupy the important position in the international peanut trade.