Groundnut, or peanut, is a member of the legume family. It belongs to those few plants whose fruits grow and grow underground.. It is considered a valuable oilseed, widely used in the food industry.
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Description and history of the origin of the peanut
In appearance, peanuts resemble pods from 1 to 6 cm long. The number of yellowish seeds enclosed in them is usually from 1 to 3, and can reach a maximum of 6 pieces. The seed coat accepts various shades: deep purple, red, pink or variegated.
As a result of pollination of flowers and subsequent fertilization, the lower part of the ovary grows. It forms a gynofor - a shoot that penetrates the wet layers of the soil and forms the fruit. If the flowers are located at a height of more than 20 cm from the ground, then they have no chance of seed formation.
Translated from the Greek peanuts means a spider. The plant owes its name to the similarity of the mesh pattern on the surface of the pod with the cobweb. BUT peanuts are often called peanuts due to fruit ripening.
At the end of the 16th century, Portugal founded a colony in Canton. The plant turned out to be in China, where the locals appreciated it. Peanuts helped solve the problem with hunger in the country and received the name Chinese nut.
The next destination was Africa, where it settled down well on practically barren soils.Sowing grounds for peanuts grew rapidly, oilseed crops were grown for export.
Mass distribution of nuts in the United States began in the XIX century after the Civil War of 1861. On the advice of the American agricultural chemist George Carver, farmers alternated the sowing of peanuts and cotton, which was dying more and more often due to a cotton weevil. Soon, nut yields exceeded cotton income many times and became the main crop in the southern United States.
D. Carver has developed hundreds of varieties of products and products from the plant. Peanuts are part of the drinks, dyes, cosmetics, drugs.
Russia was able to appreciate the full benefits of culture at the turn of the XVIII-XIX centuries. The most suitable for climatic conditions for the cultivation of peanuts are located in the Caucasus, Central Asian republics, in the southern part of Ukraine, in the North Caucasus.
Calorie and vitamin composition
Peanuts have a high calorie content: 100 g product contain 551 kcal. People who are prone to obesity, it is not recommended to get involved in nuts, especially roasted.
Despite the peanut belonging to the legume family, it is closest to nuts in the content of nutrients and vitamins.
Chemical composition includes:
- essential nutrients - proteins (26.3 g / 100 g), fats (45.2 g / 100 g), carbohydrates (9.9 g / 100 g);
- cellulosesugar, starch;
- vitamin complex (B, C, E, PP);
- micro and macronutrients - phosphorus, zinc, iron, copper, calcium, magnesium, manganese, potassium, sodium, selenium.
Useful properties and disadvantages
Specialists who studied the properties of peanuts, came to the conclusion that the benefits and harms of the product are about the same. If to consider contraindications to the use and to observe a measure, then unpleasant consequences can be avoided.
The beneficial qualities of groundnut are as follows:
- Proteins and fatscontained in peanuts are easily absorbed by the body. Rich vitamin and elemental composition puts the nut on a par with products recommended for healthy eating.
- The presence of linoleic acid reduces the risk of developing sclerosis. With sufficient content of this important component in the body, the synthesis of essential fatty acids - linolenic and arachidonic - takes place.They allow you to maintain a normal level of cholesterol in the blood.
- Peanut fruit helps to increase blood clotting, which reduces blood loss in injuries and in patients with hemophilia.
- Due to the high content of antioxidants, walnut (especially roasted) is a useful prophylactic agent for heart and vascular diseases. Slows down the aging process and division of cancer cells.
- Natural fiber in peanuts helps to improve digestion, excretion of pathogenic bacteria from the body.
- Amino Acid, Part of Peanut tryptophan produces serotonin in the body. Its high content removes people from depression, restores the nervous system after stress.
- Possesses choleretic action.
- It is a good helper in fighting infections, boosts immunity.
- With the constant use of fruits in small quantities, people noted improvement of hearing, memoryincreased concentration of attention.
Products derived from nuts have almost the same beneficial qualities:
- peanut butter preserves the complex of essential vitamins and elements;
- peanut milk has a positive effect on the gastrointestinal tract;
- peanut paste provides the body with energy.
Nut Harm:
- Seed sheath may cause allergic reactionsusually expressed by itching and redness of the skin. In rare cases, vomiting, laryngeal swelling is possible.
- For diseases of the joints eating foods high in protein is contraindicated.
- If the seed treatment, transportation or storage technology has been violated, a nut can accumulate toxins. Therefore, when buying, be sure to make sure that there is no mold on the shell. Foreign smell is also unacceptable.
- People suffering from varicose veins should not eat peanuts because of its ability to make blood thicker.
The famous peanut diet raises many questions. On the one hand, the nut promotes fast splitting of fats. On the other side of the scale - high calorie product.
Peanut application
The taste of nuts is familiar to everyone. Roasted, salty, sweet, honey-sesame - you can buy them at any store. In a crushed form the peanut is a part of various bakery products, chocolate pastes, halva, creams, coffee drinks.
Most of the crop is recycled for the manufacture of vegetable oil. The highest grade is used in canning and confectionery production. The lower grades of peanut butter are used to make high-quality Marseille soaps.
Nut seed protein is an integral part of various types of glue, plastics. It is used in the production of vegetable wool - ardila.
The botva of the plant goes to feed the cattle.
Cultivation technology
To grow a really high-quality product and harvest a rich harvest, you need to follow the recommendations:
- Pre-sowing tillage fertilizer allows you to increase the yield by half.Growing peanuts requires good lighting and warm ground. The optimum temperature for germinating seeds is 25-300C. The lower limit at which their germination is still possible is not lower than 140 ° C.
- Landing is best done at the beginning of June.. At this time, the risk of frost on the soil is minimal. Dried seeds and beans are used for sowing. Gardeners recommend choosing large seeds, otherwise you can not wait for germination.
- Deep into the hole 7-10 cm (sometimes a little more) put 3-6 pieces nutsThe distance between crop rows is not less than one meter. On wet soils, sow seeds 3 cm from the surface.
Given that the nut ripens underground, it is difficult to establish the exact date of harvest. On average, it is 3-4 months for early varieties and up to half a year for late ones. You can assess their degree of readiness by trying a few pieces to taste.
Gather peanuts in dry weather.. Shrubs should be easily pulled out of the ground.When the soil begins to freeze, most of the crop risks remaining underground.
Then the beans are dried in the sun for several weeks and taken to storage or processing.
Care rules
To get a good harvest for the shoots need to care.
- To create the necessary moisture peanut watered every 2 weeks. In a dry time, this period is reduced by half. 3-4 weeks before harvesting, watering is stopped.
- After the appearance of inflorescences spend regular hilling of bushes.
- Required weeding.
- Fertilization at least 3 times during the ripening period. Top dressing can significantly increase the yield, reducing the number of underdeveloped beans.
It is not recommended to grow peanuts in the same area more than 2-3 times in a row to avoid contamination of the culture with pathogenic organisms that persist in the soil and plant residues.
Conclusion
Peanuts are a unique culture. As a representative of leguminous plants, it ripens in the ground, like potatoes. It has many benefits as a preventive and therapeutic agent.. And the wide scope of the walnut in various types of industry makes it a universal product.