peanut

peanut, (Arachis hypogaea), legume of the pea family (Fabaceae), grown for its edible seeds. Native to tropical South America, the peanut was at an early time introduced to the Old World tropics. The seeds are a nutritionally dense food, rich in protein and fat. Despite its several common names, the peanut is not a true nut. As with other legumes, the plant adds nitrogen to the soil by means of nitrogen-fixing bacteria and is thus particularly valuable as a soil-enriching crop.

The peanut is an annual and can either be an erect shrubby plant, 45–60 cm (18–24 inches) high with short branches, or have a spreading form, 30–45 cm (12–18 inches) high with long branches that lie close to the soil. The stems are sturdy and hairy and bear pinnately compound leaves with two pairs of leaflets. The flowers are borne in the axils of the leaves and feature golden-yellow petals about 10 mm (0.4 inch) across. The oblong pods have rounded ends and are most commonly 25–50 mm (1–2 inches) long with two or three seeds; the pods are contracted between the seeds and have a thin, netted, spongy shell. The seeds vary from oblong to nearly round and have a papery seed coat that ranges in colour from whitish to dark purple.

Peanut legumes have the peculiar habit of ripening underground, a phenomenon known as geocarpy. After pollination and the withering of the flower, an unusual stalklike structure called a peg grows from the base of the flower toward the soil. The fertilized ovules are carried downward in the sturdy tip of the peg until the tip is well below the soil surface, at which point the peg tip starts to develop into the characteristic pod. The pegs sometimes reach down 10 cm (4 inches) or more before their tips can develop fruits. These unusual fruits appear to function as roots to some degree, absorbing mineral nutrients directly from the soil. The pods may not develop properly unless the soil around them is well supplied with available calcium, regardless of the nutrients available to the roots.

Peanut growing requires at least five months of warm weather with rainfall (or irrigation equivalent) of 60 cm (24 inches) or more during the growing season. The best soils are well-drained sandy loams underlain by deep friable (easily crumbled) loam subsoils. At harvest the entire plant, except the deeper roots, is removed from the soil. The pods are often cured by allowing the harvested plants to wilt for a day, then placing them for four to six weeks in stacks built around a sturdy stake driven upright into the soil. The pods are placed toward the inside of each stack to protect them from weather.

Peanuts are sold boiled or roasted and are commonly used to produce an edible oil with a high smoke point. In the United States the seeds are also ground into peanut butter and widely used in candy and bakery products. The peanut is used extensively as feed for livestock in some places; the tops of the plants, after the pods are removed, usually are fed as hay, although the entire plant may be so used. The development of some 300 derivative products from peanuts—including flour, soaps, and plastics—stems mainly from research conducted in the early 20th century by George Washington Carver.