Peanuts, Arachis hypogaea, are one of the most widely consumed legumes globally due to its nutrition, taste, and affordability. Peanuts are protein and energy-rich and have been utilized worldwide to address the nutritional needs in developing countries. Currently, its role in a heart-healthy diet has warranted tremendous attention among consumer groups and within the scientific community. Additionally, current studies have identified the value in the phytonutrient composition of peanuts, such as resveratrol, isoflavonoids, phenolic acids, and phytosterols, which may enhance overall health and wellness. This article presents a comprehensive review of the nutritional chemistry of peanut components (macronutrients-proteins, lipids, carbohydrates; micronutrients-vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients) as related to health and use within the body. An improved comprehensive knowledge and better understanding of the nutritional chemistry of peanuts enables us to better harness the power of these nutrients in improved peanut products within the food and feed industry.

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Early feeding trials using peanut meal prepared from normal-oleic peanuts helped to identify peanuts as a suitable alternative feed ingredient for poultry. Yet no studies to date have examined the use of high-oleic peanuts ( HO-PN ) as a feed ingredient for meat type chickens. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the effect of feeding whole unblanched HO-PN on the fatty acid profile of the meat produced from broilers. At hatch male chicks were randomly placed in raised wire cages, in 10 replicate pens per treatment with 10 chicks per pen, and fed with one of the 3 isocaloric, isonitrogenous diets ad libitum for 42 days: (1) conventional control of soybean meal + corn, (2) 10 to 12% HO-PN and corn diet, or (3) control diet spiked with ≈6.0% oleic acid oil. All body weights ( BW ) were collected, and broiler selection for processing was determined by individual BW within one-half a standard deviation of the experiment 42-D mean BW, with one bird selected per pen (10 replicate pens per treatment, 3 treatments, 10 birds selected per treatment, yielding a total sample size of 30 birds). Performance was determined weekly and breast samples were analyzed for fatty acid and amino acid profile. All data was analyzed using analysis of variance, with t-test mean comparisons at P < 0.05. BW were similar between broilers fed the HO-PN and control diet, while feed conversion ratio of broilers fed the HO-PN diet was significantly higher at weeks 2, 4, and 6 in comparison to the other treatments ( P ≤ 0.03). Broilers fed with HO-PN diet had reduced carcass and pectoralis major weights in comparison to the other treatments. Chicken breast from broilers fed the HO-PN diet had significantly reduced saturated and trans fatty acid content in comparison to the controls ( P ≤ 0.0002). Although additional studies must be conducted, this study suggests that feeding whole unblanched HO-PN to broiler chickens may serve as a means to enrich the meat produced with unsaturated fatty acids.