Health benefits of peanut skin and the bioactive compounds

Peanut’s health benefits are vastly explained. The abundance of substantial components in peanuts and even their skin makes peanuts a great source of disease prevention and longevity promotive.

Peanut nutrition profile

The major components that can be found in peanuts are protein, fiber, and fat. As it is clear, these materials are plant-based and have been presented in the most beneficial form to be used by human beings. Protein is plant-based and the fats within peanuts are unsaturated fat which is so critical for human health. The peanut fat profile contains 50% of monosaturated fatty acids and 14 % saturated fatty acids and 33% Paraformaldehyde which is a great and heart-friendly combination. Peanut consumption in every form like raw, butter, or oil in everyday diet shows that even with the high content of the oil is so more beneficial for heart health when it is compared to low-fat diets. The studies show that the high monounsaturated fat peanut diets have resulted in the reduction of total cholesterol in the human body by 11%. The LDL (low-density lipoprotein) which is known as bad cholesterol was reduced by 14% and the HDL cholesterol (high-density lipoprotein) which is beneficial for health was maintained with the reduction in triglycerides. The great impact of peanut diets on the human body for reducing the amount of cholesterol was always compared to olive oil diets. Researchers assume that the daily intake of nuts has a great association with decreasing the risk of coronary heart disease because nuts consumption will support the body with a great amount of unsaturated fat.

 Peanut protein value

Between legumes, peanuts are packed with a great amount of protein whereas no nuts can compete with peanuts at a protein level. Peanuts contain all 20 amino acids in different proportions and arginine which is known as a type of protein can be found to a great extent in them. Arginine is a remarkable material for kids because it can greatly affect their height growth. Peanut protein has equivalent value compared to meats and eggs which has a critical role in human growth and health. In contrast to animal protein, as far as peanuts protein is a plant-based kind of protein it contains additional beneficial factors like fiber and bioactive components. Recently peanuts have been integrated into the food industry. The excellent water retention and solubility and the emulsifying activity within these kernels are the cause of the food industry integration. For example, noodles-producing factories are one of the industries that are taking advantage of the high amount of protein in peanut kernels. The following table will show a comparison between plant-based protein Percent for half of the cup

1. Peanut 26%
2. Soybean flour 21%
3. Pinto beans 11%
4. Kidney beans 11%
5. Wheat flour 11%
6. Chickpeas 10%
7. Corn meal 7%
8. Rice 3%

It shows that peanuts have owned the first place in the protein contest among other nuts.

Peanuts easy to digest

Peanuts kernel are so easy to digest. It is crucial to know that protein quality is defined by the pattern of amino acids and the digestibility of protein. The actual digestibility of peanut protein is comparable with that of meat protein. The peanut’s digestibility has been estimated at approximately 0.70 out of 1 whereas the whole wheat’s digestibility is around 0.46. Another fact about peanuts is fat digestibility which varies based on the structure of the fatty acids. The number of monosaturated fats in peanuts can be shown as 50% which can help the digestion of peanuts with the help of using unsaturated hydrogen bonds which can be broken without any effort. Phytic acids are found in legumes, sine peanuts are also in that category, they also contain these types of acids which are associated with decreasing the bioavailability of other nutrients with the means of binding properties. Unfortunately, the amount of phytic acids in peanuts is lower than in other legume members, especially in comparison with soybeans. Another fact is that most of the fiber in peanuts is insoluble and the soluble amount in peanuts is critically low. It depends on the daily intake of peanuts, also there is no evidence for not letting the nutrients bind and putting limitations on absorption conveniently. It must be mentioned that a small amount of soluble fermentable fiber can have a great impact on the absorption of some minerals.

Bioactive compounds in peanuts

Arginine, Resveratrol, Phytosterols, Phenolic acids, and flavonoids are some of the bioactive compounds which can be found in peanuts. Each of them has a compromising role in human health and cannot be neglected by the human daily regime. Arginine can play an astonishing role in every point of the human body. Having a healthy liver, skin, and muscles the arginine amount in the body has to be increased. These amino acids have been shown that can regulate the blood sugar level and hormones moreover can also strengthen the immune system. The other fact is that arginine can promote fertility in males. Improvements in circulation and treat impotence and heart disease are other major facts that arginine can bring. Although the human body produces the needed supplementation of arginine, sometimes is essential to increase the amount of this amino acid manually, for example when there are severe wounds or illnesses the body needs more arginine to improve them quickly. Another bioactive compound is resveratrol which belongs to a class of polyphenolic compounds and is sometimes called stilbenes. All plants are not capable of producing resveratrol but it can be identified in some minor plants like peanuts. Decreasing stress, improvements in injuries, and the cure of fungal infections are some of the functions of resveratrol. Also, resveratrol can help the skin against ultraviolet radiation. After all of these amazing facts and benefits of peanuts that have been mentioned, plenty of other benefits like the effects of peanuts for diabetics, Alzheimer patients, and weight management are still not told. We will get to these beneficial facts in near future.