Effect of Blanching on Quality and Shelf-Life of Peanut Kernel

This book is usefull for the producer, exporter and peanut processor in India and abroad. Peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) is an annual legume crop and a major source of oilseed. It is commercially popular due to its superior edible oil quality and protein in the meal. In production of processed peanut products, the blanching of peanut has great importance. But the information on industrial blanching protocols is proprietarily limited. Blanching plays a significant and indispensable role in the peanut processing.Experiments were carried out to study the effect of blanching on quality and shelf life of peanut kernels. To achieve these objectives, the raw peanut kernels of GAUG-10 cultivar used for export purpose, were procured from Seeds Industries, Junagadh. From the study, it was observed that the blanchability is maximum for soaking peanut kernels in the water and freeze dried at -50 C. It was also found that the moisture content is directly proportional to the relative humidity and inversally proportional to the temperature of storage room. The oil content and hardness decreases with increase in moisture content and vice versa.