Consumer acceptance of value-added products made from peanuts

Summary

Increase peanut consumption through value-added products and process development.

Situation

Georgia produced over 50% of the peanuts grown in the U.S. and most of the U.S. peanut food related consumptions are either in the forms of peanut butter or confectionery. The total amount of peanut food consumption in the U.S. did not change significantly over the years due to limited number of ways peanuts are used in our diet.

Response

Through the support of Southeastern Peanut Research Initiative, research supports were obtained to developed value-added peanut products for the food processing and food service industries. A process of peanut-based vegetable burger, peanut pasta and instant peanut drink mix were developed. Peanut pasta formulation consisting of whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour, peanut flour, Xanthan gum, soy lecithin, and water was developed for sensory evaluation. A second formulation of peanut pasta was prepared with the addition of corn flour. Peanut burger formulations consisted of dehydrated textured soy protein (TSP) pieces (fine and coarse), deionized water, partially defatted peanut flour (12% fat content), peanut pieces, peanut oil, a roasted pepper and onion mixture, roasted mushrooms, liquid smoke, southwestern seasoning blend, salt, and soy lecithin. The formed patties were cooked in a stovetop pressure cooker (10 psi) with 850 ml of deionized water on an elevated cooking rack for 3.5 min. For peanut drink mix, light, medium, and dark roasted partially defatted peanut flours (12%) were used. A super wing mill DM-200 cyclone assisted impact/attrition food mill was used to mix and reduce the particle size of all the dry ingredients (peanut flour, sugar, anti-caking agent, and stabilizer) to produce a ready-to-mix peanut drink powder.

Impact

A consumer acceptance test was conducted to evaluate appearance, color, aroma, flavor, texture, and overall liking of two peanut pasta formulations along with commercial controls of enriched spaghetti noodle and whole wheat thin spaghetti noodle. Overall, the peanut/corn pasta formulation had similar quality attribute ratings as the whole wheat thin spaghetti noodle. A sensory study to evaluate hot samples of four peanut burger formulations (control cook, over cook, oil spray, and increased vegetable content) and one commercial vegetable burger patty was conducted. Panelists suggested increasing the vegetable content in the formulation. Cooking times, sizes, and methods should remain the same for processing peanut burger. Preliminary sensory evaluation of beverages prepared from the peanut drink powder was conducted at the 2006 Hot Topics on Peanuts Conference during the 2006 Georgia Peanut Tour. Regardless of degree of roast, people rated the peanut drink with a high concentration of drink powder as “like moderately.” This drink product was also served at the 2006 Sunbelt Expo; more than 70% of the people who tasted the product indicated they liked it very much. Direct impact of our research will be on food processing and food service markets due to increase on ways that peanuts can be incorporated into our food system.

State Issue

Agribusiness Development/Value Added

Details

• Year: 2006
• Geographic Scope: National
• County: Spalding
• Program Areas:
  • Agriculture & Natural Resources