Peanut oil, also known as groundnut oil or arachis oil, is a mild-tasting vegetable oil derived from peanuts. The oil is available with a strong peanut flavor and aroma, analogous to sesame oil.
It is often used in American, Chinese, South Asian and Southeast Asian cuisine, both for general cooking, and in the case of roasted oil, for added flavor.
Video Peanut oil
Uses
Unrefined peanut oil has a smoke point of 320 °F/160 °C. and is used as a flavorant for dishes akin to sesame oil. The refined peanut oil has a smoke point of 450 °F/232 °C is commonly used for frying volume batches foods like french fries.
Maps Peanut oil
Composition
Its major component fatty acids are oleic acid (46.8% as olein), linoleic acid (33.4% as linolein), and palmitic acid (10.0% as palmitin). The oil also contains some stearic acid, arachidic acid, behenic acid, lignoceric acid and other fatty acids.
Antioxidants such as vitamin E are sometimes added to improve the shelf life of the oil.
Nutritional content
According to the USDA data upon which the following table is based, 100 g of peanut oil contains 17.7 g of saturated fat, 48.3 g of monounsaturated fat, and 33.4 g of polyunsaturated fat.
Health issues
Toxins
Highly refined peanut oil can contain traces of hexane, a petroleum byproduct used to maximize separation of oil from the solids of peanuts. The EPA identifies hexane as a neurotoxin in rat studies. There are no specific regulations on the limits of hexane use in cooking oils. If quality control is neglected, peanuts that contain the mold that produces highly toxic aflatoxin can end up contaminating the oil derived from them.
Medical considerations
Vitamin E is added as a preservative to refined peanut oil, which can be an issue for persons on blood-thinning medications, if consumed excessively.
Allergens
Those allergic to peanuts can consume highly refined peanut oil, but should avoid first-press, organic oil.
Most highly refined peanut oils remove the peanut allergens and have been shown to be safe for "the vast majority of peanut-allergic individuals". However, cold-pressed peanut oils may not remove the allergens and thus could be highly dangerous to people with peanut allergy.
Since the degree of processing for any particular product is often unclear, "avoidance is prudent."
History
Shortage of whale oil in the Confederacy made peanut oil an attractive alternative during the American Civil War. The oil had increased use in the United States during World War II, because of war shortages of other oils.
Other uses
Peanut oil, as with other vegetable oils, can be used to make soap by the process of saponification. The oil is safe for use as a massage oil. Peanut researcher George Washington Carver marketed a peanut massage oil.
Biodiesel
At the 1900 Paris Exhibition, the Otto Company, at the request of the French Government, demonstrated that peanut oil could be used as a source of fuel for the diesel engine; this was one of the earliest demonstrations of biodiesel technology.
Suspension agent
Some medicines and vitamins use arachis oil as a suspension agent.
References
External links
- Peanut oil at WebMD
- Peanut oil at the Peanut Institute website
Source of the article : Wikipedia
0 Comments