A perceived limitation to incorporating herbicide application decision support system (HADSS) into routine peanut weed management decisions is efficient scouting of fields. A total of 52 peanut fields were scouted from 1997 through 2001 in North Carolina to determine the weed density in a 9.3-m2 section for each 0.4-ha grid of the field. These weed populations and their spatial distributions were used to compare theoretical net return (TNR) over herbicide investment for various scouting methods and weed management approaches. HADSS was used to determine the expected net return for each treatment in each 0.4-ha section of every field under differing assumptions of weed size, soil moisture conditions, and pricing structures. The treatment with the highest net return averaged across all 0.4-ha grids was considered to be the optimal whole-field treatment. For all 52 fields, TNR for the best whole-field treatment and for site-specific weed management (applying the most economical recommendation on each 0.4-ha grid) averaged $414 and $435/ha, respectively. Estimated return from the commercial postemergence herbicide program of aciflurofen plus bentazon plus 2,4-DB followed by clethodim (where grass was present) averaged $316/ha across all 52 fields. For fields of 5 ha or more (17 fields) in which 12 or more samples were taken, TNR was $500, $510, and $516/ha for three-sample (one pass through the middle of the field with samples taken on both ends and the center of the field), six-sample (two passes through the field with three stops per pass), and full-sample (one stop for each 0.4 ha) approaches, respectively.

The presence of excessive phytic acids in foods exerts undesirable antinutritional effects while their agricultural product is utilized as food for humans and as fodder for animals. In this study, 40 cultivated groundnut genotypes were grown in two years and used to estimate the phytic acid phosphorus (PAP) and inorganic phosphorus (InP) contents. The PAP content differed significantly (P= 0.01) among the genotypes and ranged from 149.3 to 315.0 mg PAP/100 g seed with an average of 227.6 mg PAP/100 g seed. The genotypes TG 17 and TG 67 had the highest (315 mg) and the lowest (149.3 mg) PAP content, respectively. The InP content ranged from 58.7 mg/100 g seed in the SG 99 genotype to 102.6 mg/100 g seed in the TG 40 genotype, with a mean of 82.6 mg/100 g seed. The ratio of InP to PAP varied from 0.24 to 0.56. A significantly higher InP:PAP ratio was found in the genotypes TKG 19A, TAG 24, TG 37A, TBG 39 (TDG 39), TG 51, TG 67 and GG 7, which was due to either an increase in InP content or a decrease in PAP content.

The fatty acid composition of peanut seed oil from a range of samples included in the core of the core or the ‘mini core’ of the US peanut germplasm collection was determined using gas chromatography. Oil contents of the seeds ranged from 31.4 to 47.9%. Very long-chain fatty acids are defined as those having more than 22 carbons in chain length. Although it has been reported in peanuts seed previously, the presence of hexacosanoic acid (C26:0) was quantified in a large variety of samples here for the first time along with docosanoic (C22:0) and tetracosanoic acids (C24:0) to demonstrate the potential of peanut seed as a source of very long-chain fatty acids that have been associated with widely varying effects such as the metabolism of the dietary fatty acids and physical properties of the oils themselves. Use of representative samples from the peanut germplasm collection allowed for comparison of very long-chain fatty acid content among seeds of different origins, and showed, although values overlapped, the seeds did cluster according to area of origin.

trans-Resveratrol (trans-3,4′,5-trihydroxystilbene), a polyphenolic compound uniquely identified in plants, is believed to greatly contribute to human health. Peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) seeds of 20 germplasm accessions were harvested from the same field and used for resveratrol analysis by high-performance liquid chromatography. trans-Resveratrol content in air-dried peanut seeds was on average about 0.5 μg/g and a statistically significant variation (from 0.125 to 1.626 μg/g, at least a ten-fold difference) was detected among the accessions analysed. The average weight for 100 seeds was 52.84 g. A statistically significant variation in seed weight (from 22.30 to 87.94 g, at least a four-fold difference) was observed. There was no significant correlation between trans-resveratrol content and seed weight. The information about the levels of trans-resveratrol in peanut seeds will be useful for peanut cultivar development and peanut product processing. Breeders could use germplasm accessions containing a high amount of resveratrol to develop new nutritionally improved peanut cultivars and food processors could use these new cultivars to manufacture high resveratrol peanut products.