The peanut, also known as the groundnut, goober, pindar or monkey nut, is a legume crop grown mainly for its edible seeds. It is widely grown in the tropics and subtropics, important to both small and large commercial producers. It is classified as both a grain legume and, due to its high oil content, an oil crop.
The health benefits of peanuts include protection from diseases, aid in weight loss, prevent gallstones, boosts men’s stamina, improved memory, good heart health, and can help reduce the risk of getting cancer.
They can be eaten whole – with husks on or the top cover removed depending on the consumer’s preference.
They take three to four months to mature.
Value addition
Apart from just eating them raw or cooked, groundnuts can be used to produce oil, paste, flour or sauce used in cakes and cookies obtained by grinding nuts, and peanut butter.
Value addition ensures processed products fetch good prices in the market and the shelf life is increased.
Peanut butter
Twaweza Women Group consisting of women with a disability based in Bombolulu, Mombasa shared with KTN Farmers Tv how they go about adding value to groundnuts by making peanut butter.
The process of making peanut butter starts with the buying and collecting of unshelled peanuts from farmers. It is important to get the groundnuts whole and unshelled to avoid seed contamination.
The dry unshelled peanuts are then sorted to remove those that are spoiled.
The peanuts are then shelled using a peanut sheller machine which is followed by more sorting out to remove rotten seeds.
The seeds are then roasted in a roasting machine and then cooled to remove the seed coat. Some of the seed coat is however left intact as it is highly nutritious.
Big peanuts roast faster than smaller peanuts and give better quality peanut butter.
More sorting out is done to ensure a high-quality final product.
The peanut seeds are ground in a stainless machine and moderately cooled for 15 to 20 minutes, before packaging in well-labelled packets and containers in readiness for the market.
“The final product must include the manufacture date and the expiry date as one of the major requirements,” says Twaweza Women Group.
Through this process, the shelf life of the groundnuts is then increased by up to twelve months or more with no preservatives added.
The peanut oil acts as its preservative which separates and settles at the top a day after packaging.
Peanut butter can be eaten as it is – in its pasty form, spread on bread, apples, biscuits and other foods for a good snack, put into smoothies to add flavour or used for cooking foods such as vegetables and soups.
How can groundnuts be added value?
Value addition
Apart from just eating them raw or cooked, groundnuts can be used to produce oil, paste, flour or sauce used in cakes and cookies obtained by grinding nuts, and peanut butter.
What is the value chain of groundnut?
Value chain of the groundnut value chain, groundnut in this chapter comprises activities that take place at various levels beginning with input suppliers and continuing through production, product handling by traders, the industrial application, processing, exporters up to the consumers.
What is the economic value of groundnut?
Groundnut is a cash crop which provides farmers with income and livelihoods. It also contributes to farm families’ well-being through eating energy- and protein-rich groundnut kernels and provides livestock with nutritious fodder.