Groundnut / Peanut

Groundnut

Synonymy: Peanut

Local name: চিনাবাদাম (‘Chinabadam’) 

Scientific name: Arachis hypogea L.

Taxonomic position According to Cronquist (1988)

Kingdom         : Plantae
Division           : Magnoliophyta
Class                :Magnoliopsida

Subclass          : Rosidae

Order               : Fabales
Family             : Fabacaeae

Genus              : Arachis

Species            :  A. hypogea

Botanical Description of Groundnut

 Habit: Annual prostate to erect herb with usually root nodules.

Dorsal side of the leaf

Ventral side of the leaf

Root: Taproot with lateral branching.

Stem: Branched dimorphic monopodial.

Figure : Stem Anatomy of Ground Nut

Leaf: Alternate with two opposite pairs of obovate leaflets.

Figure: Leaf Anatomy of Ground Nut

Flower: Flowers borne on compressed spike in the axis of foliage leaves.

Fruit: Pod oblong to cylindrical and reticulated.

Economic Importance: The nuts are eaten raw or after roasting. Most of the world crop is crushed for oil that is used mainly for cooking. The oilcake is rich in protein and used to produce edible groundnut flour. The oilcake is used as good manure. Per 100 g edible portions contains 30 g protein, 47 g fat and 12 g carbohydrate. It is also a good source of vitamins B and E.

Table 1: Peanut varieties developed by Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI) and Bangladesh Institute of Nuclear Agriculture (BINA)