Flavour characteristics of peanut cultivars developed for southwestern United States

The main focus of many of the peanut breeding programs is to achieve agronomic improvements over existing cultivars. However, it is also important that desirable sensory characteristics of the peanut varieties are at least maintained during this process. The main objective of this study is to examine flavour characteristics of peanut cultivars developed through traditional breeding. Flavour and aroma evaluations were performed by a trained descriptive sensory panel and a gas chromatograph/mass spectrometer (GC/MS) equipped with an olfactory detector. The peanut samples were also analysed for their moisture, ash, protein, sugar and oil composition. Sensory analysis carried out by trained panellists showed that there were only minor differences among the peanut cultivars examined in this study. Florunner had high roasted peanut (5.13) and low total off-flavour (0.88) scores when rated on a zero to fifteen intensity scale. Results of the olfactory evaluation of the peanut cultivars support the sensory tests conducted on the same samples by trained panellists.