Product Description

Sprayed Peanut Shell Powder

1.Feed categories :
Legume seeds and by-products  Oil plants and by-products  Plant products and by-products

2. Description:
The fruit (pod, nut) of the peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) consists of an external hull (or shell) (21-29%) surrounding the nut (79-71%) (van Doosselaere, 2013; Davis et al., 2016). Peanut hulls, not to be confounded with peanut skins (which are the thin paper-like seed coats enclosing the kernel), are a by-product of peanut processing. The shelling of peanuts is often the second operation (after cleaning) of peanut processing, as both the production of peanut oil and the production of peanut snacks, peanut butter and other peanut-based foods require kernels without hulls (except the production of in-shell peanuts). Peanut hulls usually consist of fragmented hulls with variable amounts of whole or broken kernels (Hill, 2002).

Peanut hulls are a bulky waste generated in large amounts. In peanut-producing countries, they are often burned, dumped, or left to deteriorate naturally (Kerr et al., 1986). In the recent past environmental concerns have led to an interest in using peanut shells for a variety of purposes: fuel, mulch, carrier for chemicals and fertilizers, bedding for livestock and poultry, pet litter, soil conditioners, etc. (Hill, 2002). Peanut hulls are also fed to livestock, particularly ruminants and rabbits, although their high fibre content does not make them suitable for most monogastric species.

3. Distribution:

Peanut is a major crop widely distributed throughout tropical, subtropical, and warm temperate areas in Asia, Africa, Oceania, North and South America, and Europe (Freeman et al., 1999). Crushing peanuts for oil and meal remains a major use of the crop, but direct utilisation for food has been steadily increasing since the 1970s. About 45% of the world peanut production was used for food in 2010-2013, with 60% or above going to the food market in North America, Southern Africa, West Africa and South-Eastern Asia. However, only 41% of the production is used as food in Eastern Asia and 13% in South-Western Asia (Fletcher et al., 2016). The worldwide production of peanuts (with shells) was 40 million tons in 2015. 40% was produced in China, 19% in the other Asian countries, 18% in Africa and 11% in the Americas (USDA, 2016). Assuming that peanut shells constitute 20% of the weight, it can be estimated that 8 million tons of peanut shells are produced each year.

4.Environmental impact:
Peanut shells are a major industrial waste in peanut-producing countries. Their utilisation by livestock helps alleviate their environmental burden