Peanut as a source of protein for human foods

Peanut has traditionally been used as a source of oil; however, its worldwide annual protein harvest has reached nearly 4.5 million tons. India followed by China and the United States are the major producers of peanut. In recent years, several cereals and legumes-based foods using peanuts as protein supplements have been developed to alleviate protein calories-malnutrition problem. Peanut in the form of flour, protein isolates, and meal in a mixed product have been found to be very desirable from a sensory quality point of view. Peanut protein is deficient with respect to certain essential amino acids, but its true digestibility is comparable with that of animal protein. Even though various processing methods influence the nutritional and sensory quality of peanut fortified human foods available information on these aspects have been reviewed and summarised in this paper in order to optimize the utilization of peanut protein to increase protein value of cereal-based foods in developing countries of the peanut growing regions of the world.