Volatile “Fingerprint” Profile of Raw Peanuts as an Indicator of Quality

Abstract

Abstract The 1980 peanut crop suffered severe losses because of the drought in the United States, and in many cases, the peanuts that were harvested had off-flavors. Peanuts were imported from several foreign countries to offset crop losses. Many raw samples, both imported and US-grown, were examined by direct gas chromatography fingerprint method and by sensory techniques for flavor quality. The volatile profiles obtained were used as an indicator of quality. Based on the volatile profiles from numerous raw peanut samples examined, indicators of suspect peanuts were found that could provide a means of dividing the peanuts into several different groups, e.g. peanuts that had possibly undergone fermentation, oxidation, or external contamination. The volatile profiles of each of these groups and several high grade controls were correlated to peanut quality. In general, as the volatile profile increased, the quality decreased.