a brief HISTORY OF
PEANUTS
by Philip McIntosh
There are a variety of uses that can be applied to the peanut , but none are better than popping these tasty , nutritious snacks into your mouth .
There are not many things you can eat that can also be made into paint , lubricating grease , medicines , glue , pesticides , soap , and a host of other products . Of course , we are talking about the amazingly versatile peanut . It is true than George Washington Carver discovered or invented more than 300 uses for the peanut , but the idea of using peanuts to make lubricants , pesticides , and such never really caught on . Today , the peanut is pretty much exclusively a food product . The major uses of peanuts are for oil , roasted nuts , peanut butter , and candy . The peanut , Arachis hypogaea , is similar in many ways to its ancient cousins , but has been developed into its current high-yielding form over many years through both natural and selective breeding . The name Arachis is related to the Greek word arachne ( spider ), perhaps due to the way the flowers arch down into the ground , and hypogea means underground . Although now grown all over the world , the peanut originated in South America ( likely in the region encompassing Brazil , Peru , Ecuador , Paraguay , and Uruguay ) with evidence of human use going back at least 10,000 years . Although they are called nuts , the edible parts of the peanut plant are actually the underground-developing seeds of a legume . Peanuts are in the pea family ( Fabaceae , formerly known as the Leguminosae ), and although they are sometimes called ground nuts they are not really nuts at all . Peanuts have been grown in Australia since the 1860s but only became a commercial crop in the early 20th century . At first they were mainly grown by Chinese immigrants for domestic use , especially during the Palmer River goldrush in North Queensland . Although there is one report of “ ground nuts ” being grown by a farmer in the Condamine region in 1861 , no serious attempts were made to grow peanuts commercially in Queensland until the early 20th century . Global peanut production has been on the rise since 2005 with China being the world ’ s top producer , followed by India , Nigeria , Sudan , and the United States . Not all peanuts are the same , and different varieties are suited to specific uses . Runner peanuts like warm weather and sandy , well-drained soil . They are grown commercially for their excellent roasted flavour which also works well for making peanut butter . The Virginia peanut is grown in most areas of Australia . Sometimes called cocktail nuts , these peanuts are quite large , making them good candidates for either processing into peanut derivatives or for in-shell roasting . If you have eaten peanuts that have a notable red skin , you have seen Valencia peanuts . These are often a bit smaller and sweeter than the other varieties . Finally , there is the Spanish peanut . Spanish peanuts are another small variety , mostly used for confectionary products . Their high oil content makes them useful for oil extraction and for making creamy peanut butters . They also grow well using hydroponics . Peanuts are a good source of protein , containing about seven grams per ounce . Add to that a couple grams of fibre , 14 grams of mostly unsaturated fat , plus trace amounts of many vitamins and minerals , and the peanut checks in as a nutritious and healthy food . They are available unsalted if that is a concern . Since the majority of the peanuts grown around the world are put into oil extraction , we end up with a lot of fibrous peanut waste . Peanut shell waste can be pelletised for burning as a fuel , turned into animal feed , or made into engineered wood products . It seems like Carver ’ s 300-plus uses for peanuts just scratched the surface of what is possible with the peanut .
58 Maximum Yield