Everything about Peanut Butter totally explained
Peanut butter (also known as
peanut paste) is a food paste made primarily from ground roasted
peanuts, with or without added oil. It is popular primarily in
Canada, the
United States,
South America,
Mexico,
Central America, and
Saudi Arabia. The United States is the world's largest peanut butter supplier and consumer. Along with
Argentina and
China, it's one of the world's three largest exporters of peanuts. Peanuts grown in other countries are usually harvested for
peanut oil (a type of
cooking oil) and for animal feed. The economic impact of peanut butter production is also significant in
Subsaharan Africa.
There are many types of peanuts. Small-seed peanuts are rich in oil and usually grown for peanut butter and oil. In the U.S.,
Runner Types and
Spanish Types are two families of peanuts grown in
southern states including
Alabama,
Florida,
Georgia,
Oklahoma,
South Carolina and
Texas. The first three states produce 60% of the peanuts that are used in peanut butter.
Harvested peanuts are sent to factories for inspection,
roasted in
ovens, and rapidly air-cooled to stop cooking, which helps to retain their color and oil constituents.
The cooked peanuts are then rubbed between
rubber belts or brushes to remove the outer skin. The
kernels are split with the hearts removed and then cleaned and sorted.
Artificial sweeteners,
artificial colors and
preservatives are not allowed (this is why some peanut butter manufacturers sell
peanut spread, sometimes called low-calorie or low-fat, with additives or lower peanut content). Some brands add
salt or
sugars including
dextrose,
sucrose,
fructose, or
molasses to suit the taste of the average consumer; others have no additives.
Health
Health benefits
Peanut butter provides protection against cardiovascular disease due to high levels of
monounsaturated fats and
Resveratrol; butter prepared with the skin of the peanuts has a greater level of
resveratrol and other health-aiding agents. Peanut butter (and peanuts) provide
protein, vitamins
B3 and
E,
magnesium,
folate,
dietary fibre,
arginine, and high levels of the
antioxidant p-coumaric acid.
Plumpy'nut is a peanut butter-based food used to fight malnutrition in famine-stricken countries. A single pack contains 500 calories, can be stored unrefrigerated for 2 years, and requires no cooking or preparation.
In the novel
Make Room! Make Room! by
Harry Harrison and the film
Soylent Green made from it an impoverished and malnourished world is portrayed; the government supplies a peanut butter ration to prevent "the kwash" (
kwashiorkor, associated with protein deficiency) in children.
Health concerns
For people with a
peanut allergy, peanut butter can cause reactions including
anaphylactic shock which has led to its banning in some schools.
The peanut plant is susceptible to the
mold Aspergillus flavus which produces a
carcinogenic substance called
aflatoxin. Since it's impossible to completely remove every instance of aflatoxins, contamination of peanuts and peanut butter is monitored in many countries to ensure safe levels of this
carcinogen. Average American peanut butter contains about 13 parts per billion of aflatoxins, a thousand times below the maximum recommended level.
Some brands of peanut butter may contain a fraction of a percent of added
hydrogenated vegetable oils, which are high in
trans fatty acids, thought to be a cause of
atherosclerosis,
coronary heart disease, and
stroke; these oils are added to make the butter easier to spread. Natural peanut butter, and peanuts, don't contain partially hydrogenated oils. A USDA survey of commercial peanut butters in the US didn't show the presence of trans fat. Peanut butter is high in total fat and calorie levels.
Other uses
A common, simple outdoor
bird feeder can be made by coating a
pine cone once with peanut butter, then again with birdseed.
Peanut butter is an effective
bait for
mouse traps.
Disinfectant for certain kinds of insect bites.
Can also help take
gum out of hair.
Reference peanut butters
As of February 2008, the most expensive peanut butter on the market is a $603 limited item which can be
mail-ordered from the
National Institute of Standards and Technology of the U.S. This peanut butter (SRM 2387) is a set of three 170 g (6 oz.) jars which will expire on
December 31,
2009.
This piece of reference material has been analyzed with state-of-the-art measurement methods to provide values for the amount of
fatty acids, 18 individual
amino acids (
protein),
vitamins,
minerals,
dietary fiber, other
nutrients and
mold-produced
carcinogenic
aflatoxins. Food manufacturers can use it to validate production and
quality control procedures as well as ensure accurate labeling of product content. It can also be used to evaluate
allergen test kits.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Peanut Butter'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://peanut_butter.totallyexplained.com">Peanut butter Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
