Peanut is a legume crop that belongs to the family of Fabaceae, genus Arachis, and botanically named as Arachis hypogaea. Peanuts are consumed in many forms such as boiled peanuts, peanut oil, peanut butter, roasted peanuts, and added peanut meal in snack food, energy bars and candies. Peanuts are considered as a vital source of nutrients. Nutrition plays an important role in growth and energy gain of living organisms. Peanuts are rich in calories and contain many nutrients, minerals, antioxidants, and vitamins that are essential for optimum health. All these biomolecules are essential for pumping vital nutrients into the human body for sustaining normal health. This paper presents an overview of the peanut composition in terms of the constituent biomolecules, and their biological functions. This paper also discusses about the relationship between consumption of peanuts and their effect on human metabolism and physiology. It highlights the usefulness of considering peanuts as an essential component in human diet considering its nutritional values.

NIR reflectance spectroscopy was used to analyze the total oil and fatty acid concentration of Virginia and Valencia types of in-shell peanuts rapidly and nondestructively. NIR absorbance spectra were collected in the wavelength range from 400 to 2,500 nm using a NIR instrument. Average total oil concentrations of all samples were determined by a standard Soxtec extraction method. Fatty acids were converted to the corresponding methyl esters and measured using gas chromatography. Partial least squares analysis was performed on the calibration set, and models were developed for predicting total oil and fatty acids. The best model was selected based on coefficient of determination (R 2 ), standard error of prediction, and residual percent deviation (RPD) values. Virginia-type in-shell peanuts had RPD values of [5.0 for both absorbance and reflectance models, indicating that the method could be used for quality control and analysis. Valencia peanuts had an RPD value of 3.01, which indicates that the model is good for initial screening purposes. For both types of peanuts, fatty acid prediction gave RPD values of\5 for all the models, indicating they could be used for initial screening purposes.

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Techniques using near infrared (NIR) spectroscopy for quality measurements are becoming more popular in food processing and quality inspection of agricultural commodities. NIR spectroscopy has several advantages over conventional physical and chemical analytical methods of food quality analysis. It is a rapid and non destructive method and provides more information about the components and its structure present in the food products. It can measure more than one parameter simultaneously. The NIR spectrum includes wavelengths from 750 to 3000 nm that follow immediately after the visible region (400-700 nm). Many organic compounds can be well-defined by NIR reflectance, transmittance or diffuse reflectance system. This paper reviews the application of NIR spectroscopy to several oil seeds and examines the feasibility of using this technique for peanut quality analysis. The NIR spectroscopic instrumentation has been explained briefly for a better understanding. Also needs and limitations in use of NIR spectroscopy for peanut quality analysis and grading were explained.