SOLUBLE SUGAR COMPOSITION OF PEANUT SEED

To determine the soluble sugar composition of raw peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) seed, sugars were extracted from defatted flours prepared from freeze-dried and cold-stored samples using 80% methanol and fractionated by HPLC. The results showed that except for Altika, all 20 peanut cultivars examined contained primarily sucrose followed by glucosamine (tentative), stachyose, and raffinose. During sugar extraction, exposure of samples to heat alone did not cause oligosaccharide breakdown but exposure to acidic solutions increased oligosaccharide breakdown into glucose and fructose. In addition, shortterm refrigerated or frozen storage appeared to cause no major changes in soluble sugar composition of peanut seed. Results of this study indicated that the soluble sugar constituents of peanut seed include primarily sucrose, glucosamine (tentative), raffinose, and stachyose and that other monosaccharides such as glucose and fructose arise as a result of oligosaccharide breakdown during sample processing and analysis.