PHYSIOLOGY AND MINERAL NUTRITION 

 Table 6. — Oil from Spanish Peanuts 



109 



Glycerides Percent 



Oleic 52.9 



Linoleic 24. 7 



Palmitic 8.2 



Stearic 6.2 



Arachidic 4.0 



Lignoceric 3.1 



Unsaponiiiable material . . 0.2 



Total 99.3 



of the oil of unshelled peanuts when stored in closed cans at 1° C. for 2 

 years (80). Oil of seed stored at 27° C. for 4 years (65) is much less 

 stable than that of seed stored at 1° C. or at minus 18° C. for the same 

 period. The oil of immature seed (62) has a higher free fatty acid content 

 than that of mature seed. 



Peanut seed is an excellent source of the B vitamins (33, 40, 43, 64) 

 but contains only small quantities of the A, C and D vitamins. The ap- 

 proximate range in values of vitamin content as microgram of vitamin per 

 gram of seed is as follows: riboflavin 1.05-1.57, thiamin 8.5-14, nicotinic 

 acid 88-200, niacin 144-158, pantothenic acid 25, pyridoxin 3, biotin 0.34, 

 inositol 1800, and folic acid 2.8. A considerable quantity of vitamin E is 

 also present. Heat above about 150° C. decreases the vitamin content (29, 

 40) . Fertilization of the soil is reported to have had no effect on the Bj 

 content of peanuts (67) but there were large varietal differences. 



Values of some of the organic constitutents of the peanut seed as 

 compiled from the results of Fraps (30) are given in table 7. Similar 

 values have been published by others (40, 43). Results by Burkhart 

 (18), Jodidi (47) and Moore (59) show that t*he organic cornposition 

 of peanut seed can be influenced by environmental factors which affect the 

 growing plant, but the data are too limited for generalization. The litera- 

 ture offers little information on the organic composition of the seed dur- 



