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- An annual plant in the pea family that is native to South America.
- Peanuts are not true nuts: they are found underground when ripe and are technically called a woody legume.
- Each legume has a rough light brown coat, is hour glass shaped and contains 2 and sometimes 3 or 4 nuts.
- The nuts do develop from fertilised flowers, but mature underground.
- Nuts have a reddish brown edible seed coat, are elongated and about 1 cm long.
- There are thousands of different peanut cultivars.
- Peanuts are the most consumed nut.
- Most are eaten ‘raw’ after roasting, but there are many peanut-based products, such as peanut butter, peanut oil and confectionary.
- Some people can suffer severe allergic reactions to peanuts and their products.
- Most supplies are imported, but nuts are grown in Australia in Queensland, northern NSW and the Northern Territory.
- Available: all year; Australian crops are harvested from February to June
Botanical Name: Arachis hypogaea (Fabeaceae)
Health Benefits
100g of peanut yields the following:
- Calories – 599
- Total Carbs – 5% of DV
- Protein – 28.03g
- Dietary Fibre – 38% of DV
- Vitamin C – 1% of DV
- Calcium – 6% of DV
- Iron – 8% of DV
*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.