Peanut Oil 
The peanut, or groundnut (Arachis hypogaea), is a species in the legume or "bean" family. It was probably first domesticated in the valleys of Peru. Peanuts are known by many other local names such as earthnuts, ground nuts, goober peas, monkey nuts, pygmy nuts and pig nuts. The domesticated peanut is an amphidiploid or allotetraploid, meaning that it has two sets of chromosomes from two different species, thought to be Arachis duranensis and Arachis ipaenensis. These likely combined in the wild to form the tetraploid species Arachis monticola, which gave rise to the domesticated peanut. The plant was later spread worldwide by European traders.The orange veined, yellow petaled, pea-like flower of the Arachis hypogaea is borne in axillary clusters above ground. Following self-pollunation, the flowers fade and wither. The stalk at the base of the ovary, called the pedicel, elongates rapidly, and turns downward to bury the fruits several inches in the ground, where they complete their development. The entire plant, including most of the roots, is removed from the soil during harvesting. The pods act in nutrient absorption. The fruits have wrinkled shells that are constricted between pairs of the one to four (usually two) seeds per pod. The pods ripen 120-150 days after the seeds are planted. If the crop is harvested too early, the pods will be unripe. If they are harvested late, the pods will snap off at the stalk, and will remain in the soil. Harvesting occurs in two stages. In mechanized systems a machine is used to cut off the main root of the peanut plant by cutting through the soil just below the level of the peanut pods. The machine lifts the "bush" from the ground and shakes it, then inverts the bush, leaving the plant upside down on the ground to keep the peanuts out of the dirt. This allows the peanuts to dry slowly to a bit less than a third of their original moisture level over a period of 3-4 days. Traditionally, peanuts are pulled and inverted by hand. After the peanuts have dried sufficiently, they are threshed, removing the peanut pods from the rest of the bush.
Peanut oil is an organic material oil derived from peannuts, noted to have the aroma and taste of its parent legume. It is often used in Chinese, South Asian and Southeast Asian cuisine much as olive oil is used in the Mediterranean. Peanut oil is appreciated for its high smoke point relative to many other cooking oils. Due to its high monounsaturated fatty acids content, it is considered more healthy than saturated oils, and is resistant to rancidity. Its major component fatty acids are oleic acid (56.6%) and linoleic acid (26.7%). The oil also contains some palmitic acid, arachidic acid, arachidonic acid, behenic acid, lignoceric acid and other fatty acids. Peanut oil is most commonly used when frying foods, particularly french fries and chicken. It is effective at sealing food's flavours and juices, makes it never absorb flavours or transfer them from one food to the other. The oil contains zero grams of trans fat per serving and is a cholesterol and sodium free food. Peanut oil is also often used for baking and is heavier than many vegetable oils. It is tasteless and very versatile, and does not add any flavour that might not mesh well with the flavours already in your recipe. When used for baking, peanut oil can be used for baking brownies, cookies, cakes and muffins.
