Abstract: Crop foods such as peanuts, soybeans, peas, and the like, are ground and processed in a rapid, continuous, in-line production system. The food material is converted into a thermally processed slurry rapidly by mixing the ground food with hot water and steam and then quickly cooling the slurry, preferably in a vacuum chamber. The heat treatment stops the activity of enzymes which normally produce undesirable flavors and odors in mixtures of water and ground peanuts and other foods. The rapid cooling treatment prevents damage to protein content and simultaneously strips away any raw peanut flavor that may have developed. The continuous process produces a slurry of peanuts, or the like, without the characteristic raw peanut flavor, and the bland slurry can be further processed by drying to produce a useful food product such as flour, food extender, or the like.

Abstract: A method is disclosed for quickly and easily determining the presence and concentration of aflatoxins in peanuts. Aflatoxins are extracted from ground peanuts with a methanol-water solution using a tissuemizer. The extracted sample is filtered and an aliquot of the filtrate is transferred to a separatory funnel. A salt solution is added to remove interferences. The combined aqueous solution is then extracted with dichloromethane. The dichloromethane extract is evaporated to dryness, trifluoroacetic acid is then added and the resulting residue taken up in the mobile phase. The solution is then passed through a minicolumn for filtration and final cleanup. An aliquot is then injected into a high pressure liquid chromatograph system for separation of the four aflatoxin components, B1, B2, G1 and G2. Quantitation is done using a filter fluorescence detector.

Abstract: Shelled peanuts, preferably blanched, are pressed to remove fat from the peanuts and then are cooked in water for a time sufficiently to gelatinize starch and coagulate proteins and also inactivate enzymes while destroying microorganisms. The cooked nuts are then fragmented into particles as by dicing for relatively large particles, or by grinding, for small size particles to make paste or, with drying, to make flour, for example. The particulate product, as a flour, may be used for baking or may be added to water to form milk substitutes. Shredded and diced nuts so treated may be used as food extenders, fillers and the like. The resulting product is of high protein content characterized by a long shelf life and extremely flexible with respect to water content.