Study Finds Peanut Oil Supports Body in Maintaining Nutritional Balance
The price of olive oil never seems to go down. With the increase in inputs, it is normal for Brazilian consumers to look for more affordable alternatives and one of them is peanut oil, extracted from the Arachis hypogaea plant , a legume native to South America and very popular in bars, stadiums and restaurants throughout the world. Country. After all, who doesn’t like to snack on peanuts? The product is so part of our culture that there is even a bill to make September 13th National Peanut Day (PL 4475/2023).
São Paulo exports and Chinese imports
Brazil produces 747 thousand tons of peanuts per year, according to data from the Brazilian Association of the Chocolate, Peanut and Candy Industry (Abicab). Around 90% of this production comes from the State of São Paulo, with emphasis on the cities of Tupã (13.6%), Marília (12.7%) and Jaboticabal (12.2%).
From this production, 87 thousand tons of oil are extracted and 60% of this total is exported, according to data from the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation. Our main buyer is China. According to professor Simão Davi Silber, from the Faculty of Economics, Administration, Accounting and Actuarial Science (FEA) at USP, the commercial relationship between Brazil and China is explained by historical factors:
“The [Brazilian] agricultural and mineral sector is a sector that since the beginning, after the Second World War in particular, has been very focused on the international market, because the scale is so large that, for the domestic market, there is no demand”.
The opposite occurs in China: many human resources, demand and consumer market, but the region has geographical complications:
“China is very poor in natural resources, it is full of deserts and high altitudes because of the Himalayas. Therefore, it was unable to feed a population that abandoned the countryside and today there are more than 500 million people who live in cities. Depends on what? From imports”.
Silber says that the great success in the production of agricultural inputs, including peanuts, was due to state incentives: “A government initiative that was very successful was the creation of Embrapa. Embrapa sent agronomists to study abroad, learn how to research new varieties [of agricultural products]. And this, combined with business capacity, combined with market expansion, transformed Brazil into one of the largest commodity exporters in the world”.
Popular and nutritious
Peanut oil, in addition to being important for the trade balance, can also help our body maintain balance. According to Juliana Gimenez Casagrande, nutritionist and doctor in Food Science, the popularity of peanuts is already a positive aspect from a nutritional point of view:
“Peanuts fall into a very popular taste classification. It is very common for people to eat peanuts, and they like them, because they are very suitable for events, meetings… It has this connotation of a snack and this, for nutrition, is already something very very good, because we study a lot the issue of the relationship with peanuts. food and not simply its vitamin and mineral content,” explains Juliana.
In addition to its emotional value, peanuts (and the oil extracted from them) are rich in vitamin E, related to cellular rejuvenation and maintenance of physical and mental health. In addition, it also contains antioxidants such as resveratrol, which prevents diseases such as Alzheimer’s by detoxifying the body of harmful molecules.
The biggest benefit of peanuts, according to Dr. Juliana, is the presence of polyunsaturated fats, especially Omega 6: “There are already several studies proving good physiological and metabolic activities of Omega 6, for example, for the immune system, aesthetics, health cardiovascular and many others”.
Good for fried foods
The doctor also explains that peanut oil has a high smoke point (232 ºC, according to the Michelin Guide), which makes it ideal for frying: “The smoke point is the moment at which the oil begins to degrade, which it begins to oxidize and form toxins. One of them is acrolein, which already has signs of possible carcinogenicity.”
Therefore, the higher the point, the longer the oil can fry without generating toxins. The oil extracted from peanuts is as resistant as soy oil, the most used for this purpose, and much more resistant than olive oil. However, the expert explains that peanuts are rich in fats and care should be taken when consuming fats: “Lipid (fat molecule) is caloric and, compared to other macronutrients, lipid will provide nine calories per gram. . So, this is the biggest thing to be careful about, not to sit there snacking and thinking everything is fine, because this at the end of the day can significantly increase your caloric intake.”
The ideal, according to Juliana Casagrande, is to seek balance in consumption: “Suddenly vary with oilseeds, which are nuts, nuts and go very well with peanuts. The idea is to have variety, this is the great building block of a good diet.” concludes Juliana.