Peanut is a very important crop for production and trade of the edible oil not only in China and also in the world. Both China and the United States of America (USA) are important peanut producers and exporters in the world. In 2018, the total groundnut production of China and the USA were about 17 000 kt and 2 477 kt, accounting for 40.52% and 5.93% of the total production in the world respectively. The peanut exportation as well as peanut product exportation from the two countries were 685 kt and 567 kt, accounting for 20.22% and 16.74% of world total respectively. In China, the peanut production is about 7 times of the United States, but the peanut exportation only is 1.2 times of the United States in 2018, which indicates that the United States has become the most efficient and most advanced in peanut processing in the world. Based on comprehensively analysis, the main reasons for the United States to be the leading nation in peanut industry are not only the high mechanization level in peanut harvest but also the most advanced technology in peanut shelling processing. Peanut processing includes the procurement, storage, shelling, grading, and transportation of raw peanuts. The peanut shelling industry is responsible for the food safety and the quality throughout the supply chain. Shelling is a very important part of the post-harvest processing of peanut, which is not only a necessary step in peanut production and processing, but also the key source of peanut kernel damage. The technology status of peanut shelling mechanization determines the peanut kernel quality level, which includes peanut hulling loss, damage, health and safety. The United States is not only the earliest and most technologically advanced country in realizing peanut harvest mechanization, but also the earliest in realizing the mechanization of peanut shelling, with leading technology in the world. The advanced technology and equipment in peanut shelling processing have played an important role in the change of peanut consumption structure and the promotion of demand, the development of food processing industry and the enhancement of the international competitiveness of peanut and its products of the United States. In order to explore the technology and learn from the experience of the USA on peanut shelling which can be referred by Chinese peanut enterprises and engineers, classify, and review the peanut shelling technology of the USA were conducted based on onsite observation and public survey of documents. By means of the systematical analysis of the process of American peanut shelling, the layout of shelling plant and related shelling equipment, and the typical peanut shelling process and equipment configuration, the technical characteristics of American peanut shelling, which is significant different from China in aspects such as the industrialization and the large scale, the advanced equipment and well-equipped assembling, localization and ordering were summarized. The problems that the United States will focus on in the future, including but not limited to the selection, the storage safety, the transportation of peanut nuts, the detection and elimination of aflatoxin, the further improvement of processing efficiency and the optimizing of technology and equipment, etc were also predicted. At last, the suggestions on the development of peanut shelling technology according to the geographical location and gradually innovating from one-stage shelling to cyclic shelling were provided, according to the actual condition of Chinese peanut shelling. Also, suggests were provide developing shelling process from a narrow scope to a broader scope and setting up a standardized process for peanut shelling. The above findings and suggestions should be useful to the improvement of peanut shelling technology not only in China but also in other countries. © 2019, Editorial Department of the Transactions of the Chinese Society of Agricultural Engineering. All right reserved.
