Peanut oil, also known as groundnut oil or arachis oil, is a

vegetable oil Vegetable oils, or vegetable fats, are oils extracted from seeds or from other parts of edible plants. Like animal fats, vegetable fats are ''mixtures'' of triglycerides. Soybean oil, grape seed oil, and cocoa butter are examples of seed ...

derived from

peanut The peanut (''Arachis hypogaea''), also known as the groundnut, goober (US), goober pea, pindar (US) or monkey nut (UK), is a legume crop grown mainly for its edible seeds. It is widely grown in the tropics and subtropics by small and large ...

s. The oil usually has a mild or neutral flavor but, if made with roasted peanuts, has a stronger peanut flavor and aroma. It is often used in

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

Chinese Chinese may refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people identified with China, through nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **Han Chinese, East Asian ethnic group native to China. **'' Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic ...

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Associated with India * of or related to India ** Indian people ** Indian diaspora ** Languages of India ** Indian English, a dialect of the English language ** Indian cuisine Associated with indigenous peoples o ...

, African and

Southeast Asian cuisine This is a list of Asian cuisines, by region. A cuisine is a characteristic style of cooking practices and traditions, usually associated with a specific culture or region. Asia, being the largest, most populous and culturally diverse continent, ...

, both for general cooking and in the case of roasted oil, for added flavor. Peanut oil has a high

smoke point The smoke point, also referred to as the burning point, is the temperature at which an oil or fat begins to produce a continuous bluish smoke that becomes clearly visible, dependent upon specific and defined conditions. This happens when one or ...

relative to many other cooking oils, so it is commonly used for frying foods.

History

Due to war shortages of other oils, the use of readily available peanut oil increased in the United States during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Production

In 2021, world production of peanut oil (reported as groundnut oil) was 4.75 million

tonnes The tonne ( or ; symbol: t) is a unit of mass equal to 1,000 kilograms. It is a non-SI unit accepted for use with SI. It is also referred to as a metric ton in the United States to distinguish it from the non-metric units of the s ...

, led by China with 39% of the total (table). India was a major secondary producer.

Uses

Unrefined peanut oil is used as a flavorant for dishes akin to

sesame oil Sesame oil is an edible vegetable oil derived from sesame seeds. The oil is one of the earliest-known crop-based oils. Worldwide mass modern production is limited due to the inefficient manual harvesting process required to extract the oil. ...

. Refined peanut oil is commonly used for frying volume batches of foods like

French fries French fries, or simply fries, also known as chips, and finger chips (Indian English), are '' batonnet'' or '' julienne''-cut deep-fried potatoes of disputed origin. They are prepared by cutting potatoes into even strips, drying them, and f ...

and has a smoke point of 450 °F/232 °C. Unrefined peanut oil is commonly used for

cooking Cooking, also known as cookery or professionally as the culinary arts, is the art, science and craft of using heat to make food more palatable, digestible, nutritious, or Food safety, safe. Cooking techniques and ingredients vary widely, from ...

due to its natural flavor and nutritional benefits. It's also used in skincare products for its moisturizing properties. Unrefined peanut oil is often used in salad dressings and marinades for its rich, nutty taste.

Biodiesel

At the 1900 Paris Exhibition, the Otto Company, at the request of the

French Government The Government of France (, ), officially the Government of the French Republic (, ), exercises Executive (government), executive power in France. It is composed of the Prime Minister of France, prime minister, who is the head of government, ...

, demonstrated that peanut oil could be used as a source of fuel for the

diesel engine The diesel engine, named after the German engineer Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which Combustion, ignition of diesel fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to Mechanics, mechanical Compr ...

; this was one of the earliest demonstrations of

biodiesel Biodiesel is a renewable biofuel, a form of diesel fuel, derived from biological sources like vegetable oils, animal fats, or recycled greases, and consisting of long-chain fatty acid esters. It is typically made from fats. The roots of bi ...

technology. Crude peanut oil can be filtered and placed in a reaction tank with

methanol Methanol (also called methyl alcohol and wood spirit, amongst other names) is an organic chemical compound and the simplest aliphatic Alcohol (chemistry), alcohol, with the chemical formula (a methyl group linked to a hydroxyl group, often ab ...

and

sodium hydroxide Sodium hydroxide, also known as lye and caustic soda, is an inorganic compound with the formula . It is a white solid ionic compound consisting of sodium cations and hydroxide anions . Sodium hydroxide is a highly corrosive base (chemistry), ...

to yield

methyl ester In chemistry, an ester is a compound derived from an acid (either organic or inorganic) in which the hydrogen atom (H) of at least one acidic hydroxyl group () of that acid is replaced by an organyl group (R). These compounds contain a distinct ...

- the Biodiesel fuel.

Other uses

Peanut oil, as with other vegetable oils, can be used to make soap by the process of

saponification Saponification is a process of cleaving esters into carboxylate salts and Alcohol (chemistry), alcohols by the action of aqueous alkali. Typically aqueous sodium hydroxide solutions are used. It is an important type of alkaline hydrolysis. When the ...

. Peanut oil is safe for use as a

massage oil Massage is the rubbing or kneading of the body's soft tissues. Massage techniques are commonly applied with hands, fingers, elbows, knees, forearms, feet, or a device. The purpose of massage is generally for the treatment of body stress or pa ...

Composition

The oil is 93%

fat In nutrition science, nutrition, biology, and chemistry, fat usually means any ester of fatty acids, or a mixture of such chemical compound, compounds, most commonly those that occur in living beings or in food. The term often refers specif ...

, composed of

oleic acid Oleic acid is a fatty acid that occurs naturally in various animal and vegetable fats and oils. It is an odorless, colorless oil, although commercial samples may be yellowish due to the presence of impurities. In chemical terms, oleic acid is cl ...

, a

monounsaturated fat In biochemistry and nutrition, a monounsaturated fat is a fat that contains a monounsaturated fatty acid (MUFA), a subclass of fatty acid characterized by having a double bond in the fatty acid chain with all of the remaining carbon atoms being s ...

(57% of total),

linoleic acid Linoleic acid (LA) is an organic compound with the formula . Both alkene groups () are ''cis''. It is a fatty acid sometimes denoted 18:2 (n−6) or 18:2 ''cis''-9,12. A linoleate is a salt or ester of this acid. Linoleic acid is a polyunsat ...

, a

polyunsaturated fat In biochemistry and nutrition, a polyunsaturated fat is a fat that contains a polyunsaturated fatty acid (abbreviated PUFA), which is a subclass of fatty acid characterized by a backbone with two or more carbon–carbon double bonds. Some polyunsa ...

(20%), and

palmitic acid Palmitic acid (hexadecanoic acid in IUPAC nomenclature) is a fatty acid with a 16-carbon chain. It is the most common saturated fatty acid found in animals, plants and microorganisms.Gunstone, F. D., John L. Harwood, and Albert J. Dijkstra. The ...

, a

saturated fat A saturated fat is a type of fat in which the fatty acid chains have all single bonds between the carbon atoms. A fat known as a glyceride is made of two kinds of smaller molecules: a short glycerol backbone, and fatty acids that each cont ...

(16%).

Nutritional content

In a reference amount of , peanut oil is a rich source of

vitamin E Vitamin E is a group of eight compounds related in molecular structure that includes four tocopherols and four tocotrienols. The tocopherols function as fat-soluble antioxidants which may help protect cell membranes from reactive oxygen speci ...

, providing 101% of the

Daily Value In the U.S. and Canada, the Reference Daily Intake (RDI) is used in nutrition labeling on food and dietary supplement products to indicate the daily intake level of a nutrient that is considered to be sufficient to meet the requirements of 97� ...

(table). There is no

protein Proteins are large biomolecules and macromolecules that comprise one or more long chains of amino acid residue (biochemistry), residues. Proteins perform a vast array of functions within organisms, including Enzyme catalysis, catalysing metab ...

carbohydrate A carbohydrate () is a biomolecule composed of carbon (C), hydrogen (H), and oxygen (O) atoms. The typical hydrogen-to-oxygen atomic ratio is 2:1, analogous to that of water, and is represented by the empirical formula (where ''m'' and ''n'' ...

content, and no other

micronutrient Micronutrients are essential chemicals required by organisms in small quantities to perform various biogeochemical processes and regulate physiological functions of cells and organs. By enabling these processes, micronutrients support the heal ...

s in significant amounts (table).

Health issues

Toxins

If quality control is neglected, peanuts that contain the mold that produces highly toxic

aflatoxin Aflatoxins are various toxicity, poisonous carcinogens and mutagens that are produced by certain Mold (fungus), molds, especially ''Aspergillus'' species such as ''Aspergillus flavus'' and ''Aspergillus parasiticus''. According to the USDA, "The ...

can end up contaminating the oil derived from them.

Allergens

Those allergic to peanuts can consume highly refined peanut oil, but should avoid first-press, organic oil. Most highly refined peanut oils remove the peanut

allergens An allergen is an otherwise harmless substance that triggers an allergic reaction in sensitive individuals by stimulating an immune response. In technical terms, an allergen is an antigen that is capable of stimulating a type-I hypersensitivi ...

and have been shown to be safe for "the vast majority of peanut-allergic individuals". However, cold-pressed peanut oils may not remove the allergens and thus could be highly dangerous to people with peanut allergy. Since the degree of processing for any particular product is often unclear, many believe that "avoidance is prudent".

References

External links

Peanut oil
at WebMD {{DEFAULTSORT:Peanut Oil Cooking oils Peanut products Vegetable oils