Cooking Oil Facts: Peanut Oil
Peanut oil or groundnut oil is extracted from peanuts. It has a very light nutty aroma and thick texture. It is often used in Chinese, South Asian and Southeast Asian cuisine.
It is easy to identify peanut oil that has gone bad, it has a sharp acrid scent. It oil has a smoking point of 231 °C (448 °F) and can cook or fry food at high temperatures.
Nutrition Facts and Benefits of Peanut Oil
Peanut oil has oleic acid (56.6%), linoleic acid (26.7%), some palmitic acid, arachidic acid, arachidonic acid, behenic acid, lignoceric acid and other fatty acids. It has low levels of saturated fat, but high in monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fat.
Lectin Clog Arteries
Peanut oil from is considered good for the heart because of the high levels of monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fat which helps to lower cholesterol levels. However, studies showed that the compound called lectin in peanut oil promotes the formation of plaque build up in the coronary arteries. The lectin in this oil is higher than other vegetable oil. It is important to note that this oil is not recommended for people who are allergic to peanuts.
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