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Management of Aflatoxins in Groundnuts: A manual for Farmers, Processors, Traders and Consumers in Uganda
(National Agricultural Research Organization, 2010) Okello, David K.; Kaaya, Archileo N.; Bisikwa, Jenipher; Were, Moreen; Oloka, Herbert K.
Groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.), also known as peanut, is the second most important legume after beans (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) grown mainly in Eastern and Northern Uganda but consumed widely throughout the country (Okello et al., 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 beef, 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 binyebwa, a cooked paste. These qualities make groundnut an important nutritional supplement to mainly cereal diets of maize, millet and sorghum of many Ugandans.