Abstract:

Groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.), also known as peanut, is the second most important
legume after beans (Phase°lus yulgaris L) grown mainly in Eastern and Northern Uganda
but consumed widely throughout the country (Okello et at, 2010). There has been a
substantial increase in groundnut production as both a food and cash crop because of
increased awareness of their value as a source of protein (23-25% content), fat (40-50%), oil
(40-52% content), and 10-20 % carbohydrate depending on the variety (Savage and Keenan,
1994). With the costs of animal protein ever increasing, groundnut is becoming an even
more important source of protein. A kilogram of groundnuts is high in food energy and
provides approximately the same energy value as 2 kilograms of beet 4 litres of milk, or
36 medium-size eggs. Groundnut seeds are also a nutritional source of vitamin E, niacin,
falacin, calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, zinc, iron, riboflavin, thiamine and potassium.
Groundnut is consumed raw, roasted, blanched, as peanut butter, crushed and mixed
with traditional dishes as a sauce or as bin yebwa, a cooked paste. These qualities make
groundnut an important nutritional supplement to mainly cereal diets of maize, millet and
sorghum of many Ugandans