Peanut oil (
arachis oil') is
an organic material oil derived from
peanuts, noted to have the slight aroma and
taste of its parent legume.
In the UK it is marketed as "groundnut
oil".
It is
often used in Chinese, South Asian and Southeast Asian cuisine much as olive oil is used in the Mediterranean
. Peanut oil is appreciated for its high
smoke point relative to many other
cooking oils. Its major component
fatty
acids are
oleic acid (56.6%) and
linoleic acid (26.7%). The oil also
contains some
palmitic acid,
arachidic acid,
arachidonic acid,
behenic acid,
lignoceric acid and other fatty acids.
At the
1900 Paris
Exhibition, the Otto Company, at the request of the French
Government, demonstrated that peanut oil could be used as a source
of fuel for the
diesel engine.
It is also used as the main ingredient in some ear-wax removing
products along with
almond oil. Peanut
oil is also used as a fecal softener.
Peanut oil is most commonly used when
frying
foods, particularly
french fries and
chicken.
Peanut oil is a
monounsaturated
fat. As such it may be substituted into a diet to reduce the
negative health effects of eating
trans
fat and
saturated fat.