Excerpt from The Uses of the Peanut on the Home Table

The Uses of the Peanut on the Home Table

The peanut is not a nut. We have too often thought of the peanut as a part of the circus or street parade, and have been misled by the latter half of its name and used it as we would nuts. The peanut is not a nut. It is a pea, and belongs to the same family as the common pea and bean. The term nut was applied to it on account of its flavor, which is similar to that of many of the true nuts. The object of this bulletin is to point out the true food value of the peanut and to show how it can be used in our dietary.

The composition of the peanut. The peanut deserves to hold the same high rank among the foodstuffs used by man as do beans and other peas. Peanuts, like peas and beans, are a concentrated food. They contain more fat and less starch than the other legumes, but have about the same amount of protein, or muscle building food. The diagrams illustrate the comparative composition of these various legumes.

The high value of the peanut as a muscle building food. As indicated by the diagrams, the legumes have a high nutritive value and contain a large percent of protein or muscle building substance. Few of our vegetable foodstuffs contain more than 10 percent to 15 percent protein, while the legumes have from 20 percent to 30 percent in their many varieties. The protein, or muscle building food, is a daily necessity in our diet and in the form of meat or eggs or cheese, is one of the most expensive food substances. The use of the peanut which is so rich in protein is therefore strongly to be recommended to those to whom economy is important. It is, especially when raised at home, a comparatively cheap source of protein. The following diagram illustrates the food value and economy of the peanut compared with other staple foods.

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