This is a report that I needed to write for school, and I decided to post it. Enjoy!!!!!
Peanuts are peas, not nuts. Like peas, they have seed container pods,(shells) for the peanuts. There are usually two or three peanuts in each shell, which can be eaten alone, or put in candy, cookies, and other dishes. Peanuts can also be used to make peanut butter, and for industrial uses. Peanut plants are unusual because its pods grow underground. Peanuts are also called groundnuts, goobers, goober peas, ground peas, and pindas. Peanuts are an important crop, especially in warm places. 19-22 million tons of peanuts are harvested around the world each year. Africa and Asia grow about 85 percent of the world’s peanuts. Leading peanut growing countries include India, China, The United States, Sudan, Senegal, and Indonesia. The leading peanut
growing states are Georgia, Alabama, North Carolina, Texas, Virginia, Oklahoma, and Florida. When roasted or made into peanut butter, peanuts have more energy-giving calories than a piece of beef steak that weighs the same amount. Most peanuts are used to be eaten. But in industry, low quality
peanut oil is used to oil machinery, and also as ingredients in soap,face powder, shaving cream, shampoo, and paint. Peanuts are also used in making
nitroglycerin, which is an explosive. The solids left from making peanut oil are used as feed for livestock. Nothing is wasted, and even the shells are ground into powder, which is used in making wallboard, cork substitutes, and
abrasives. Peanuts are 47.5 % fat, 26 % protein, 18.6 % carbohydrates, 5.6 %
water, and 2.3 % other. The peanut plant is an annual that grows 2 and 1 half
feet high, and 3-4 feet across. There are two types of peanut plant: The Bunch, and the Runner. Farmers must harvest the peanuts at just the right time, or the peanuts might not be ripe, or they could be too ripe. At the processing plant, large, unshelled peanuts are cleaned, polished, whitened,
and marketed. To whiten the peanuts, they remove their dark outer skins. They also roast and salt them, or use the peanuts to make peanut oil. To make
peanut oil, the peanuts are run through machines that grind them into little bits, and then they squeeze out the oil. I hope that this article inspires you to try a new recipe that uses peanuts.
