12 BULLETIX 1096, U. S. DEPAETME^'T OF AGRICULTURE. 



The crushing of whole peanuts is usually done by the expeller 

 process. The results in Table 2 indicate that a product containing 

 from 34.4 to 38.6 per cent of protein is obtained. There seems to 

 be a tendency in the industry to consider this product as peanut 

 meal, although it is not, but is peanut meal and hulls, as is also any 

 product which contains hulls over ^nd above the amount that would 

 naturally be unavoidably left in the feed by an efficiently run mill. 

 Often manufacturers who crush by the hydraulic method and remove 

 all the hulls possible before crushing grind back into this product 

 either all the hulls or a part of them. They feel that such a product 

 is properly designated as peanut meal, although such is not the case. 



The cause of the wide variation in the percentage of protein in 

 products obtained by crushing whole peanuts is the presence of 

 varying quantities of '^pops" in the stock. These are pods which 

 contain no meats and are nothing more or less than hulls. Conse- 

 quently, when peanuts with a large proportion of "pops'' are crushed 

 the resulting cake contains more fiber and less protein than that 

 obtained from' normal peanuts. If hulls are determined from the 

 fiber and protein content by the formulas on page 10 a higher per- 

 centage of hulls will be obtained than if the peanuts had been normal. 



The results in Table 5 show that in mills where hulls have been 

 removed by suction the meals obtained contain from 45.3 to 49 per 

 cent of protein and from 4.6 to 11.2 per cent of fiber, indicating from 

 the fiber determinations the presence of from none to approximately 

 10.3 per cent of hulls in the meals. 



SUMMARY. 



Crushing whole peanuts by the expeller process usually gives a 

 meal containing from 34.4 to 38.6 per cent of protein. Crushing 

 peanuts from which the hulls have first been removed by the hydraulic 

 process gives a meal containing from 45.3 to 49 per cent of protein. 



Peanut meal is an excellent feed. Peanut hulls, however, have a 

 low feeding value and can not be economically shipped any great 

 distance for use as a feed. 



It is possible to determine approximately the percentage of hulls 

 in a mixture of peanut meal and hulls, either from the fiber content 

 or from the protein content. It is probable, however, that the figures 

 obtained from the fiber content will be more nearly accurate. 



The composition of peanut skins removed by hand differs from 

 that of peanut skins obtained from the peanut-butter plants. The 

 composition of peanut germs is similar to that of the meats, with 

 somewhat lower oil and somewhat higher ash contents. 



A sample of meats from the Spanish variety of peanuts was found 

 to contain 5 per cent of sugars and 4.7 per cent of starch. 



■■.VASHIXGTON : GOVEEXMEXT PEIXTIXG OFFICE : 1922 



