Peanut Seed Maturation, Quality, and Nutritional Composition

Due to the indeterminant flowering nature of the peanut plant, at harvest, a range of seed maturities are found. Although sorting by size does produce seed lots of consistent maturity, some quantity of immature kernels may be present as it has been reported that a peanut pod may grow to its final size before the seed inside is fully mature. This review discusses the physical and chemical changes that occur with peanut seed maturation. The effects on the peanut composition and resulting quality of the components and roasted peanut flavor and lipid quality are presented.