Publication:

Study on proximate composition of four genotypes of Arachis hypogea l. (groundnut)

Background Groundnut (Arachis hypogea L.) also known as peanut is one of the world’s principal oilseed crop. The plant originated in South America, but is widely distributed throughout the tropic and warm temperate areas in Asia, Africa, Oceania, North and South America and Europe. This study aimed to evaluate the proximate content of some genotype of groundnut (Arachis hypogea L.).

Methods A total of four different groundnut varieties were used in this study; the varieties were obtained from international crop research institute for the semi-arid tropic (ICRISAT) Kano station. Samples selected were Samaru nut 11 (Samnut-11); Samaru nut 22 (Samnut-22); Samaru nut 23 (Samnut-23); and Samaru nut 24 (Samnut-24). The analysis was conducted in the animal laboratory faculty of Agricultural sciences, in Bayero University Kano, Nigeria. The moisture, ash, crude protein, crude fat, crude fiber and nitrogen free extract of the samples were detected using a standard procedure adapted from official methods of analysis 1990. Data was analyzed using the analysis of variance (ANOVA) and means were separated using Student-Newman-Keuls (SNK) in SAS version 9.3.

Results The higher content of ash was found in Samnut-24 (4.4%), and Samnut-23 (11.8%) was found to have highest moisture. Samnut-23 has the highest content of crude protein (30.6%) and crude fiber (4.7%). A higher content of fat and oil (ether extraction) was found in Samnut-23 (40.0%) and a higher content of soluble carbohydrate (NFE) was found in Samnut-11(27.4%) and Samnut-22 (27.4%).

Conclusions Groundnut characteristically contained high level of oil and protein with low level of moisture, ash and carbohydrate; this makes it a potential source of edible-oil. The high protein of the defatted groundnut makes it good as cake for human consumption and useful as animal feeds. Samnut-23 has enriched edible-oil content and the crude protein, while Samnut-22 has low oil content and protein, but has enriched with NFE. Based on the conclusion it was recommended that further research should be carried out on the quality of proximate content of groundnut between the four varieties.