ABSTRACT
Peanut or groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.), with current annual production of 38.0 million tons from an area of 24.0 m ha (https://faostat.fao.org), is the fourth-largest oilseed crop in the world and is mostly grown in semiarid regions with relatively low inputs of chemical fertilizers. The crop is cultivated in more than 100 countries of Asia, Africa and the Americas with the largest (more than two-third) contributions coming from China and India. Peanut plays important roles in food and nutritional security along with improving the livelihood of resource-poor farmers. Peanut seeds contain edible oil (40-60%), protein (20-40%), carbohydrate (10-20%) and several nutritional components such as vitamin E, niacin, calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, zinc, iron, ribofl avin, thiamine and potassium. Several uses of peanut make it an excellent cash crop for domestic as well as international trade. The major share goes towards extraction of vegetable oil for use in cooking apart from its use in the confectionary industry and fodder, a major source for protein feed for animals.
