
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,
Chinese,
Indian, African and
Southeast Asian cuisine, both for general cooking and in the case of roasted oil, for added flavor. Peanut oil has a high
smoke point 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. Refined peanut oil is commonly used for frying volume batches of foods like
French fries 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 - 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.
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 (57% of total),
linoleic acid, a
polyunsaturated fat (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 (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 (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 ...
or
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
micronutrients in significant amounts (table).
Health issues
Toxins
If quality control is neglected, peanuts that contain the mold that produces highly toxic
aflatoxin 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 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 oilat WebMD
{{DEFAULTSORT:Peanut Oil
Cooking oils
Peanut products
Vegetable oils