ARS | Publication request: Fruity Fermented Off-flavor Distribution in Samples from Large Peanut Lots

Submitted to: Journal of Sensory Studies
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: October 2, 2006
Publication Date: December 12, 2006
Citation: Greene, J.L., Whitaker, T.B., Hendrix, K., Sanders, T.H. 2006. Fruity Fermented Off-flavor Distribution in Samples from Large Peanut Lots. Journal of Sensory Studies 22:453-461.

Interpretive Summary: Peanut flavor is very important to the sale of peanut products. Fruity fermented off flavor is a common off flavor resulting when peanuts are inadvertently dried at at high temperatures soon after digging. Not all peanuts in a lot have the off flavor because it is highly related to immature peanuts. Because of this random distribution taking a good sample for flavor analysis is difficult. This study examined the sample to sample flavor variability in several large lot of peanuts. As expected the samples were highly variable. This information is the first step in developing a sound sampling plan so that sellers and buyers will have more accurate data on the flavor of peanut lots in commercial trade.

Technical Abstract: Fruity fermented (FF) off-flavor develops when immature peanuts are cured at excessive temperatures (>35ºC). The objective of this study was to characterize FF distributions and determine the variability among samples from large peanut lots. Twenty peanut lots identified as having a range of FF off-flavor were sampled. Twenty samples from each lot were roasted and processed into paste for descriptive sensory analysis. Differences in FF intensity were noted within and among lots. The FF intensity mean of the lots was either greater or less than the median value for the samples, indicating that the distributions were skewed. The skewed distributions and the variation among samples from a single lot demonstrated the need to develop a sampling plan for FF off-flavor.