Project Number: 6645-43440-011-00
Project Type: Appropriated

Start Date: Jul 02, 2010
End Date: Jun 30, 2015

Objective:
1. Determine the effect of composition, maturity, moisture, handling, processing, and relevant interactions on flavor, shelf-life and texture characteristics in peanuts, peanut products, and related commodities. 2. Improve flavor and flavor consistency and reduce off-flavor potential in peanut varieties, breeding lines, germplasm and peanut products. 3. Extract, isolate, identify, and evaluate bioactive and/or biochemical components in peanuts, peanut products, and peanut plants that may exhibit nutraceutical properties, nutritional quality, biochemical and physical functionality or non-food biomass potential. 4. Examine the functional characteristics, value added potentials, and allergenic aspects of peanut protein and enzyme-produced peptides with a concentration on peanut meal resulting from commercial oil extraction processes. 5. Examine processing methods that result in improved peanut and almond ingredient food safety with minimum changes in flavor, shelf life, composition, and processing quality potentials.

Approach:
Individual effects of maturity, composition, and moisture content of individual seed and how these factors interact during blanching and subseqent oil and dry roast processing will be examined in varieties and breeding lines of peanuts grown in the Uniform Peanut Performance Trials (UPPT) at several different locations. Peanut samples with high standard flavor profiles, unique flavor profiles, and peanuts subjected to various deviations in production, curing, and handling procedures will be evaluated for variations in components identifiable by GC, HPLC, and other chromatographic methods. Compunds associated with specific flavor characteristics unique in presence or magnitude will be isolated and identified by GC-MS or HPLC-MS. Newly developed microwave technology that provides uniform exposure to microwave energy will be utilized to study the effects of various time and power protocols on drying rate, flavor, and shelf-life of shelled and inshell peanuts.