The domesticated peanut is an amphidiploid or allotetraploid, meaning that it has two sets of chromosomes from two different species, thought to be A. duranensis and A. ipaensis.
These likely combined in the wild to form the tetraploid species A. monticola, which gave rise to the domesticated peanut. This domestication might have taken place in Paraguay or Bolivia, where the wildest strains grow today.
Many pre-Columbian cultures, such as the Moche, depicted peanuts in their art.
Archeologists have (thus far) dated the oldest specimens to about 7,600 years found in Peru. Cultivation spread as far as Mesoamerica where the Spanish conquistadors found the tlalcacahuatl (Nahuatl = 'peanut,' whence Mexican Spanish, cacahuate and French, cacahuète) being offered for sale in the marketplace of Tenochtitlan (Mexico City).
The plant was later spread worldwide by European traders.
China leads in production of peanuts having a share of about 41.5% of overall world production, followed by India (18.2%) and the United States of America (6.8%).
Sitting here in the kitchen waiting for my peanuts to get done baking in the stove. Because if I leave the kitchen I'll probably forget about them & they'll end up burning.. Fun times, NOT...
Sitting here in the kitchen waiting for my peanuts to get done baking in the stove. Because if I leave the kitchen I'll probably forget about them & they'll end up burning.. Fun times, NOT...
Fixing my peanut craving by eating some FreshPak peanuts in the red & white stripped bag! These peanuts are from Stockton CA! They are the best peanuts I have ever tasted! :-)