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OILSEEDS (including Palm Kernels, Peanuts, etc.)

Description: PEANUTS - Old peanuts have a dark appearance, dry and wrinkled, whereas fresh produce is well formed and of a light brown color. Heating due to inherent vice may be evident by reason of it having commenced in the center of the bags; the peanuts next to the sacking of the bags may be found upon examination to be sound or in a better condition than those in the centers of the bags. Chinese peanuts are usually shipped with a certificate to the effect that the moisture content is less than 10%, but damage is often found despite the statement showing a lesser moisture content. Some shippers may be inclined to ship peanuts during the new crop season, mixed with the previous season's nuts, thereby in creasing the danger of infestation. Certificates as to their condition, quality, moisture content, splits and spot tests should accompany all shipments. Water action on groundnuts is definitely serious because of the high protein content of the seed. Small amounts of water tend to make the seed rubbery and consequently difficult to process. If the damage is longstanding then the wetting of the nuts generally leads to fermentation. The nuts, then, according to the amount of damage: (1) Give off an offensive smell; (2) Appear slimy; (3) Commence to heat; (4) Ultimately mold. Hydrolysis in the oil and a marked increase in free fatty acidity may follow. If the damage is excessive the ultimate effect of this is that it becomes impossible to process the nuts by normal methods. Drying improves matters but the oil is usually permanently damaged. The rise in acidity causes low yields on refining and, owing to the fact that the rise is usually accompanied by oxidation, poor quality refined oil is the result. These results depend on the amount of water and the length of time elapsing since the damage took place. Peanuts are the leguminous fruits of an annual of the papilionaceous plant family (Leguminosae), growing underground (geocarpy) to a length of 2 - 6 cm. They have a thin, netted, wrinkly, fragile shell (pod) with 1 - 4 (generally 2) kernels, which are 1.5 - 2.5 cm in size. The shell fraction amounts to 25%. The peanut is native to South America and is cultivated in all tropical and sub-tropical regions of the world. It is also called groundnut or earthnut. Strictly speaking, peanuts are not true nuts, but rather are geocarpic legumes (i.e. legumes which grow underground). Since, owing to their high oil content, they have the same characteristics with regard to transport as nuts, they will be dealt with in this product group. Peanuts are transported both shelled and unshelled. Peanut kernels are surrounded by a fine, brown seed coat, which contains antioxidants, which protect the kernels against the penetration of atmospheric oxygen and thereby prevent them from becoming rancid (oxidative rancidity). Oil content: - 20 - 60% - 42 - 52% - 40 - 50%
Index: 892
Commodity Name: OILSEEDS (including Palm Kernels, Peanuts, etc.)

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