The peanut, or Arachis hypogaea, is a member of the legume family commonly called the groundpea or goober. It produces two to four edible subterranean seeds in separate pods on viney plants. Peanuts are made up of a shell, skin, and a kernel. It is composed of 26.2% protein, 48.7% oil, 1.8% water, and 20.6% carbohydrates. They are typically grown in the sandy or friable loamy soil of South America, Africa, Asia, and the southern and western United States.

Introduced by explorers and used by colonial farmers to fatten hogs, the peanut was not cultivated for human consumption until the end of the nineteenth century. This was primarily because it required intense hand labor to harvest and process, and was subject to mold, rat and worm infestation, desiccation, and other storage problems. However, this portable food was used by troops during the United States' Civil war. When the war was...