Current Journal of Applied Science and Technology

The physico-chemical properties of four popular groundnut (peanut) varieties namely Trombay-Akola Groundnut-24 (TAG-24), Kadiri-6 (K6), Kadiri-9 (K9), and Kadiri-Harithandra (KH) were determined by following the standard measurement methods. The average geometrical mean diameter (GMD) and sphericity values of peanut pods ranged from 14.91 mm (K9) to 16.61 mm (KH) and from 0.56 to 0.63, respectively. The 100 whole pods mass for four different peanut varieties are significantly different from each other. The bulk density of peanut pods ranged from 232.7 kg/m³ (K9) to 289.0 kg/m³ (K6) and these are significantly different from each other. The calculated porosity values for peanut pods varied from 37.89% (KH) to 47.32% (TAG-24). For the kernels, the highest GMD value of 10.57 mm was recorded for the KH variety and the lowest GMD value of 9.33 mm was found for the K6 variety. Sphericity values for peanut kernels ranged from 0.71 (K6) to 0.78 (K9). The average 100 kernels mass ranged from 46.23 g (TAG-24) to 56.34 g (for K9). The bulk density of kernels ranged from 583.4 kg/m³ (K9) to 611.9 kg/m³ (K6). However, the bulk density of peanut kernels is not significantly different for the varieties from each other. The true density values of peanut kernels ranged from1020.4 kg/m³ (K6) to 1052.0 kg/m³ (TAG-24). The porosity values for peanut kernels ranged from 40.06% (K6) to 43.64% (TAG-24) and they are not significantly different for the varieties from each other. Among all the varieties, KH variety had the lowest ash content of 2.18% and also the lowest protein content. The oil content of selected peanut varieties ranged from 45.36% (K9) to 48.22% (KH).The physical properties measured in this study are helpful to design and develop suitable pre and primary processing equipment. Proximate composition gives an idea to decide peanut’s suitability for manufacturing products such as peanut butter.