Nutritional composition and antioxidant activity of Spanish and Virginia groundnuts (Arachis hypogaea L.): a comparative study

Kernels of sixty groundnut genotypes comprising thirty each of Spanish and Virginia groups were characterized and compared for the content of oil, protein, phenols and antioxidant activity along with their fatty acid and sugars profiles. The antioxidant activity for Virginia genotypes was ranged from 12.5 to 16.5 mu M Trolox equivalent activity for Spanish genotypes ranged from 6.8-15.2 mu M . Amongst Virginia types, the highest oleic acid/linoleic acid (O/L) ratio of 2.38 was observed for NRCG 12312 while from Spanish group the highest O/L ratio of 1.24 was observed for NRCG 12731. The sucrose content for Virginia genotypes ranged from 38.5 to 69.0 mg/g while it was 27.9 to 53.3 mg/g for Spanish genotypes. Average myo-inositol content was higher for Spanish genotypes (0.8-2.1 mg/g) compared to Virginia (0.4-1.8 mg/g) while the reverse was true for stachayose content (Spanish: 3.5-7.9 mg/g; Virginia: 4.6-10.3 mg/g). Thus, Virginia genotypes could be preferred to Spanish genotypes for better oil stability and antioxidant activity.