03/2022 ISSUE NUMBER / 03 APRIL 2022
ARGENTINA PEANUT CHAMBER
World Peanut Magazine
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index _ Just Peanuts? / 02 _ A Homage to Antonio Krapovickas, a Great Peanut Master / 06 . Scholar Ricardo Vanni remembers his years studying peanuts with the famous botanist
_ Market Trends
_ Only Bad News from Ukraine / 10
. The Russian invasion of Ukraine and its impact on the peanut market
_ Peanut Market Data
_ Charts & Tables / 16
_ Industrial Processing
_ The Earlier You Clean, the Better / 20
. The importance of the foreign material removal process
_ Science and Technology _ A Map of the Peanut’s Soul / 26
. Arachis SNParrays is a large-scale, high-throughput genetic tool to discover molecular markers covering the whole peanut genome
_ SNPs: What does it really mean? / 29
. Will Artificial Intelligence revolutionize the way we select new varieties (among other things)?
_ Peanuts as a Superfood
_ Food for the Brain / 30 . A study from the University of Barcelona provides further evidence that peanut consumption has a positive effect on cognitive functions
_ Peanut Farming
_ The Fundamental Importance of Soil/ 36 . The ideal conditions for peanut growing
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Nº 03 Just Peanuts? This is the third edition of World Peanut Magazine, and we are rather astonished to see how challenging the world has become for the peanut industry. First came the Covid-19 pandemic, which forced lockdowns all over the globe, coercing entire populations to stay at home for months, thus leading to huge shifts in consumption patterns, with some products on the losing end while others were on the winning one. Happily, our beloved peanut was on the second one, as its consumption rose by double digits in several markets. When the disease seemed to lose its severity, we all experienced the global disruptions in sea freights, with congested ports, huge delays in container loading and downloading, and longer transit times, you name it. The consequences? Freight rates increasing upto 3, 5, even 10 times, depending on the supply-demand situation for each route, adding another Covid challenge for the industry’s exporters and importers. A couple of months ago, just when the sea freight situation seemed to be showing some light at the end of the tunnel, with the rates and schedule stabilizing, the war in Ukraine started… Needless to say that with these three events, the peanut supply chain has been experiencing unprecedented stress. Clearly, Brazil has been the exporter most affected, but this may be just the tip of the iceberg, and besides peanuts, the
whole food industry is greatly impacted by the war, considering that Ukraine is responsible for 13% of world corn exports, 10% of world wheat exports and 47% of world sunflower oil exports. The absence of these food generates a major challenge for many countries to feed their populations. So, given this scarcity of food, we wonder what role peanuts can play in this new environment? Are peanuts just peanuts? Or maybe their great potential can provide a replacement for other missing commodities, reducing global stocks and affecting the market through the current crisis? Just a thought: are peanuts just peanuts? In this issue, we consider the impact of the war on the peanut sector, particularly the situation in Brazil, the main exporter to Russia and Ukraine. In the Science and Technology section, we continue to look at the genetic resources for peanut breeding, with a focus on SNPs. As far as farming is concerned, we consider the importance of soil types for peanut production and remember a great botanist who dedicated his life to studying peanuts: Antonio Krapovickas. We also consider the benefits of peanut consumption to the cognitive function and, last but not least, the cleaning process as a fundamental step within peanut processing.
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_ Market Trends
This section of the wpm deals with the dynamics of the demand and supply of peanuts in the international markets. We will try to keep track of the changes in peanut consumption in the main areas of the world, the factors that can affect production, and the price shifts of the various peanut products.
_ Industrial Processing
This area of the magazine focuses on shellers as well as companies transforming peanuts into consumer products. We will focus on current industry standards, quality issues, new technologies and the different industrial solutions adopted by producing countries. A special section will be dedicated to new products and tools for peanut processing developed by the best manufacturers.
_ Science and Technology
The activities of the universities and other research institutes engaged in scientific research on peanuts are of paramount importance for the future of the business. We will follow the main discoveries, from the latest issues concerning peanut genetics to the development of projects on pathogens or the impact of peanut consumption on human health. The consequences of scientific research on the future of the industry are hard to overstate, so we will be putting them in perspective in order to try to understand where the sector is heading in the long term.
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_ Laws and Regulations
The Laws and Regulations section of World Peanut Magazine analyses the impact of new legislation and regulations affecting the production and trade of peanuts. The main issues treated in this section are governmental measures directly affecting international trade (such as the introduction of tariffs or quotas), health safety issues (such as the establishment of Maximum Residue Limits for certain substances) but also legislation impacting distribution, packaging and sales.
_ Peanut as a Superfood
This section offers peanut professionals news and insights into the world of peanut consumption and all its aspects. Typical news is related to findings concerning the nutritional values of peanuts, the impact of peanut consumption on human health, and the development of peanut-based food.
_ Peanut Farming
The primary production is where the peanut business starts, of course, so we will have a dedicated section for all events, activities, techniques and equipment related to growing peanuts in different parts of the world. The general idea is to bring farming in the producing countries closer to all peanut professionals so that they can have a better grasp of the business from a grower’s perspective and maybe on what the future of peanut farming may look like.
Scholar Ricardo Vanni remembers his years studying peanuts with the famous botanist: For many peanut scholars, Antonio Krapovickas is a real legend. The renowned Argentinian botanist dedicated most of his life to the study of peanuts and other plants, giving major contributions to the field.
A HOMAGE TO
Antonio Krapovickas
a Great Peanut Master
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We asked Ricardo Vanni, Professor at the National University of the Northeast, who worked with Krapovickas for decades, to remember his friend. My work with the great master spanned about 40 years. In 1973, as a student, I applied for an assistant position for the course of plant morphology, where the professor was Krapovickas’ wife, Carmen Cristobal. I finished my coursework in 1979, and in 1983 I won a scholarship from Conicet to study pulses, such as the arachis, under Krapovickas. I was his only researcher. In 1982 I was appointed chief of lab work at the School of Systematic Botany and Phytogeography, and by 1985 I became a full professor. From that position I started working on peanuts, studying the shells from the greenhouse of IBONE (the Northeast Botanic Institute). With the arrival of 3,500 samples from the INTA Manfredi germplasm bank, we started studying several North American varieties. We used to go to Manfredi twice each year: in October to organize the seeding based on subspecies, the color of the skin and kernel; in March we would go back to study the actual plant. In the meantime, Krapovickas was publishing his work on arachis together with W. Gregory. The work was later translated into English, as requested by the Americans, along with the study of chromosomes by A. Fernandez. We published several works: The Peanuts Grown in Mexico and Their Relations with Guatemala; The Varieties Grown in Bolivia; The Varieties Grown in Peru; The Varieties Grown in Ecuador (published post mortem by Krapovickas). I carried on with the studies of neighboring genera and we concluded that the closest one to peanuts was the stylosanthes, an American genus. We studied the American varieties, 23 in total, 9 of which were from Argentina. They constitute a good fodder plant within the subtropical region. We also started studying the A. pintoi Krap, especially from Bahia, in Brazil, which was then adopted as a fodder plant in that country. A. pintoi is very much used as a cover crop and we are using it today as a cover to achieve organic crops, free of chemicals.
My research work with Krapovickas also allowed me to get scholarships and travel abroad: in 1994 I was awarded a scholarship from the New York Botanical Garden to work with Rupert Barneby, a world reference for pulses. I was able to travel to the world’s most renowned gardens and in 2008, thanks to a Myndel Botanica Foundation scholarship, I was able to go to Kyiv, London, Paris, Belgium, Copenhagen, Berlin and Munich, and visit the most important gardens in Brazil. In 2015 I was invited by CATA, the Chinese Academy of Tropical Agriculture Science, where I worked for several days consulting on stylosanthes and A.pintoi, as cover crops. Nowadays I am enjoying the praise from many scientists about the published work and I often get invitations to peanut meetings all around the world, including in India, where Krapovickas participated in the inauguration of an ICRISAT center in Hyderabad.
I would like to end this account with an anecdote: a week before his passing, which came as a terrible shock to everyone, he came to my lab and said: “What do you think, Vanni, would you agree to appear as the first author in the book Varieties Grown in Ecuador?”. He said he needed no further publications on his record, while I did. I was so grateful, though, of course, I did not accept. Krapo dedicated 60 years to the study of this genus, and, with that gesture, he was demonstrating once again his kindness, his openness and his concern toward his fellow researchers so that they could keep publishing and maintain themselves in the research system.
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— Section — MARKET TRENDS
Only Bad News from Ukraine The Russian invasion of Ukraine and its impact on the peanut market.
The current war in Ukraine is probably the worst military confrontation in Europe since World War II, and many observers have pointed out that we may be at the most risk of a nuclear exchange between two major powers since the Cuban missile crisis of 1962. A dire situation, no doubt, which is affecting people all around the world in a number of ways, without sparing the peanut sector. The most immediate impact of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on the peanut trade was the impossibility of delivering the containers in transit to Russia and Ukraine. Both countries are significant peanut consumers and their importers were expecting loads from Brazil, Argentina, and other origins which will never get to their destination. Shortly after the troops crossed the Ukrainian border, on February 24, the US, the EU and many other countries announced sanctions on Russia to an unprecedented extent, severely limiting trade and financial transactions. Though certain food products, as well as pharmaceuticals, were excluded from the ban, most international freight companies (such as Maersk, Hapag Lloyd, MSC, ONE y CMA-CGM) quickly announced that they wouldn’t deliver to Russian ports for security reasons. So exporters from Brazil, Argentina and elsewhere have been scrambling to figure out other possible destinations or to get their containers back to their place of origin. Fortunately, at least some of these containers managed to arrive at St Petersburg eventually. The decision to suspend Russia from the SWIFT international payment system, largely controlled by the US, may also have some consequences. Though it does not affect all Russian banks, many sellers may face difficulties at the time of payment for past deliveries. The biggest challenge to the peanut sector, however, may come from the disruption to the energy markets as a result of the war, particularly regarding the distribution and price of natural gas. Harvesting operations have already started in Brazil, Argentina and other world producers. Shortly after the peanuts are delivered to the plants, one of the most important operations is the drying, which allows the peanuts to be safely stored while they wait to be processed. In most cases, the drying is performed by burning natural gas, which is now becoming increasingly expensive and, in many places, difficult to find at any price. Another impact on the peanut trade may come from the scarcity of sunflower oil; Ukraine is a major producer of sunflowers and the inevitable reduction of the supply may benefit competing products, such as olive oil and peanut oil.
— Section — MARKET TRENDS
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We asked Robson Fonseca, Foreign Trade Manager of Coplana, a major Brazilian exporter, a few questions about how shellers and growers are handling the situation.
Among peanut producers, Brazil is the one most severely affected by the war in Ukraine, as about half of its exports in 2021 had Russia and Ukraine as the destination.
The impact of the war on the Brazilian peanut sector is significant given the distribution of the country’s exports Yes, far too significant. Russia represents 40 percent of our exports and Ukraine another 10 percent approximately. These exports involve some 35 exporters, most of which are medium or small companies, most of which are totally dedicated to exporting peanuts to Russia. They have their product at sea at this time; they purchased the peanuts from the Brazilian growers, shelled them and exported to Russia. Now they should collect the money from the sales against the delivery of documents, but it is impossible to get the containers to Russia. Most shipments are being concentrated in Rotterdam, Algeciras and Istanbul (the ones that were on their way to Ukraine). Russia’s importers are trying to perform payments but, of course, the SWIFT suspension is creating problems. Some Russian companies are trying to open accounts in those banks that have not been suspended.
How much product is currently in transit to Russia or Ukraine? Brazil usually sends between 8,000 and 10,000 metric tons of peanuts to Russia on a monthly basis. We recently tried to figure out how many tons the 35 Brazilian companies I mentioned have in transit to Russia and the result was 10,000 tons. Then we have another 30,000 tons in the warehouses ready to ship. And all this is from the old season, the 2021 crop.
Any plan B that you are pursuing? The last information we got from our Russian clients is that they are studying a way to get the peanuts through Riga or Tallin. However, Latvia and Estonia are also part of the EU, so I do not know whether this will be successful. I am not sure if this is official or a below-the-counter operation,
which would be obviously risky. Riga, for example, is about 570 km from St Petersburg. So the containers could be transported by truck. But there is still an EU border in between… Another problem comes with the shipping documents. The health certificates and other documents were prepared according to a certain destination and route, changing them is not an easy task. Then we still have the problem of payments. Of the 10,000 tons we have at sea, 90 percent must be with payment against documents. It is a big challenge.
What about the 2022 crop? We are trying to sell the 2022 crop; obviously, we already closed contracts with Russian buyers. Since the beginning of the war, we had different information; according to some importers, food and medicines were exempt from the ban. But in reality, this was not happening. We also had shipments towards Belarus, these ships usually arrive in Lithuania, but this country closed its borders with Belarus. Another problem for Brazil is that we cannot import potassium. We need large quantities of fertilizers and we used to get them from Russia and Belarus. Those ships are not coming and if we do not receive the quantity of potassium and other elements we need by August or September, our 2023 season will also be compromised.
The situation is complicated The prices of in-shell peanuts in Brazil are going down significantly. If you compare 2021 prices with today, the difference is huge. We use the 25kg bag as a reference unit; its price was 90 R$ in 2021 and now it is 50! If this situation doesn’t change, the planted area in Brazil will be highly reduced, at least by 30 percent. Many companies will go out of business. The exporters that concentrate on Russia and Ukraine are not buying peanuts at this time. Harvesting started a few weeks ago and growers are trying to sell the peanuts to shellers, but they can't. So the growers try to sell to the big companies. It is better to get a low price but at least get the chance to receive something. The risk of selling to a small company is that they may receive nothing: the smaller companies are out of cash and so the only chance of buying for them is against future payments. But will they be able to pay?
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— Section — MARKET TRENDS
Any alternatives for the 2022 crop?
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We have been looking for the opening of Chinese imports for the last five years. We have authorization for oil, but not for kernels. We have produced all the paperwork through the Brazilian government and now we are waiting for a response from China. But it looks like China is not in a hurry. They had a good harvest and are buying some oil, but not even large quantities. So now we are thinking of establishing a channel of communication with China to see if we can do something in the short term. In any case that would be for the second half of 2022, definitely not for the coming months. So the peanuts currently at sea will have to come back and go directly to the oil plants. There is no alternative. The South American markets are not big enough to absorb all the product. Algeria? That market is also quite slow. If the war does not end in a few weeks, there is no way to sell these peanuts.
Is the Brazilian Government supporting the sector? We have to see how much the government is going to support us. The minister of agriculture is very concentrated on the fertilizers problem. Of course, peanut is a problem, but if you consider other crops such as maize, wheat, beans, soybeans and rice, the damage from the lack of fertilizers can be devastating. The natural alternative to Russia as a supplier of potassium is Canada; we used to purchase from Russia because it had lower prices. Now the cost is going to be a lot higher.
And the sea freight continues to be very high… It is still very complicated. The rise in the cost was already very high in the last year or so. It was multiplied by two, then by three or four here in South America. Now it will probably get worse. In summary: a truckload of uncertainty
Do you think prices of peanuts will go down? Brazil now has 12 companies certified to export to the European Union. These are the biggest companies. The big barrier for Brazil here is aflatoxin. Pesticide residues may also be a problem. However, having no other option in Ukraine and Russia, many of these companies will play their cards in Europe with the new crop, which is very good. So they will probably get a bit of the market from Argentina and prices will probably go down. We are getting ready for that.
Do you think you are ready? At Coplana, we have been working with growers to prevent problems: use only those chemicals that are permitted, use
proper seeds, etc. We have agronomists checking the field, we test the peanuts in the lots, before entering the plant, then again, when receiving the loads. Maybe not all 12 companies are doing the same work, but probably half of them are doing similar things. So we will hope to find new markets in Europe. After all, Russia used to be a market mainly for Argentina, then, in the last few years, Brazil gained much of the share. Anyway, this year will be very complicated. For next year I believe we will have a strong reduction of the planted area and find a new equilibrium. In 2021 many growers who did not know peanuts decided to try peanuts and now they will be very disappointed with their decision. At some point, the war will be over and Russia will go back to buying. They need the peanuts after all.
Will you be able to compensate customers if the war ends? Whatever was not delivered in February or March, is lost. They may go back to the monthly consumption pattern. We are contacting Russian friends and also Brazilians who live in Russia. They have no idea of what is really going on: they go on with their lives, and the supermarkets are still stacked with products. Ukraine is a different story. It seems to me that it will take a long time to go back to business as usual; they are destroying that country.
A note from the editors: by the time this issue of World Peanut Magazine was completed, Mr Robson Fonseca tells us that about 25 per cent of Brazilian containers going to Russia managed to arrive at their destination.
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— Section —
PEANUT MARKET DATA
charts & tables
2021 |
2022
Source: Comexstat
peanut exports of brazil - kernels (mt)
Source: Eurostat
peanut eu imports - chapter 1202 (mt)
Source: Zhengzhou Commodity Excjange Courtesy of Geaorgalos Peanut World
Source: INDEC
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eu (27) imports - chapter 2008.11 (mt)
china future prices (settle value - rbm)
Source: INDEC
peanut exports of argentina - kernels (mt)
Source: Mintec Benchmark Prices
S/mt
mintec benchmark prices for peanuts delivered to rotterdam. Courtesy of Mintec Global
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— Section —
INDUSTRIAL PROCESSING
The Earlier You Clean, the Better
The importance of the foreign material removal process — Mechanical peanut harvesting aims to minimize losses of peanut shells at the farm stage. Hence, all the cleaning tools available within the combine machine are settled according to this objective, which makes this process quite inefficient in terms of foreign material removal, and these items end up harvested together with the shells in the farmer stock. We must take into account that the harvesting machine scrapes the soil in the field and lifts practically everything in it. The foreign materials (FM) may have different sources: peanuts themselves (peanut stalk, leaves, roots), they can be soil-related (sand, stones, clay balls, bones, metals, plastics, glass), may result from previous crop residues from rotation (soy, corn, sunflower, cotton, depending on different peanut origins) or be weed-related, like weeds sticks, seeds, fruits, etc. In some fields where there is an excess of physical contaminants, a pre-cleaning process can be carried out on the spot before moving the raw material to the processing plant. This pre-cleaning process is performed with a mobile pre-cleaner, which can be set up to remove sticks, loose soil, sand, and light materials such as shells. There are many models of mobile field pre-cleaners, which may work better for some FMs than others. The industrial cleaning process has the objective of removing as much of these elements as possible from the farmer stock, in preparation for an efficient shelling process. The pictures below show what farmer stock looks like, and which are the different types of FM that may be found in the industrial plants when the crop arrives from the farms.
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— Section —
INDUSTRIAL PROCESSING
Techniques employed to separate FM from peanut shells. 22 —
Magnetism
Size
Weight
Normally the first step at every industrial plant is to have a metal trap to remove all the big metallic parts that may come from the fields, normally machine parts, wires, screws, bolts, etc. There are different types available in the market, ranging from static magnets, that need to be periodically cleaned manually, to selfcleaning magnetic traps, that remove the FM without maintenance.
Once big metal pieces are removed, the next step is to try and separate big FM (big sticks, peanut plant residues, corncobs) and small ones (sand, small stones or clay balls, small sticks), which normally are easy to remove through a simple screen. For sticks that are long and flat, it is possible to use a belt over the screen to keep the sticks in a horizontal position avoiding their descent through the screen holes.
Once we have all the elements around the same size as peanut shells, another step is to try and separate light pieces from heavy ones. This task is performed by machines normally called aspirators, in which the product is fed by freefall through an air column aspirated from the top, allowing every piece to float according to its weight, letting the light pieces go up with the air, while the heavy ones remain down, thereby cleaning out light stuff from the product. (see picture). An alternative is a machine that displays a gap in the continuous screen, allowing the heavy pieces to fall, cleaning out light and heavy elements in one shot.
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Density
Color and shape
Another step employed to clean farmer stock before shelling is density, performed by gravity machines that can remove either light or heavy FM, according to the way they were designed. These machines use a combination of steeped screen shaker with aspiration, producing a fluid belt allowing the heavy product to concentrate at the bottom in one direction and the light product on the top in the other direction.
Although it is not currently used, there are many efforts and investments from the color-sorting suppliers to introduce this type of machine prior to shelling, to separate FM by exploiting the differences in color and shapes between the peanut shells and FM. As the cleaning environment is rather dusty, the challenge of this technology is the stability of the machines, keeping the cameras all the time clean for a high removal performance.
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The order of every step can change depending on the plant set-up and the technologies employed, and there are industrial machines available in the market that combine different operations in the same unit: aspirator over screens, gaps over screens, gravities with screens, and aspiration, etc. We must assume that the attributes described above have gray areas. Not everything is black or white. Most of the time we must assume that we will have a percentage of good products in the rejects of each stage. The challenge is to make that percentage as small as possible, removing all or most of the physical contaminants. The aim of this article is to provide a general introduction to the different cleaning aspects and available technologies, as every supplier has different cleaning strategies to reach similar results.
Cleaning efficiency —
All the cleaning strategies described above must be analyzed together with the farmer stock quality variability. It is well known that every farm has a different quality, and different harvesting technology, which means that a huge variability in terms of FM can be expected from truck to truck. If the cleaning process is fed directly from the farm, as one truck after another downloads, big differences in FM percentages should be expected. This plays a big role in the efficiency of every cleaning step as human intervention is very important to settle every machine properly in accordance with the quality of every truck. Another option is when the cleaning process is fed from a farmer stock warehouse, in which, as described in the previous WPM releases, there is a homogenization process with tends to place heavy FM in the middle of the pile and light FM on the edges. Knowing this in advance makes the cleaning process operation more simple, as the quality variability of the farmer stock is lower. This simplifies the settling of the industrial process, with less human intervention. The FM contamination of the farmer stock, considering all types of FM, can vary from a low 1-2% to very high numbers, as much as 20-30 percent. High-contaminated trucks are normally precleaned before drying and storage for proper conservation, resulting in an average contamination when entering the cleaning process of between 1 and 10 percent over the season. Low contamination lots reach the shelling steps in excellent condition, while high contaminated lots may have some FM when they reach the shelling steps, which is not an optimal situation. Once a stick or a clay ball reaches the shelling, it can break into pieces, multiplying the problems downstream. This concept is very important and leads to one of the most important statements for the cleaning process: the earlier you remove the FM, the better. Now we are ready for shelling.
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— Section —
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
A Map of the Peanut’s Soul Arachis SNParrays is a large-scale, high-throughput genetic tool to discover molecular markers covering the whole peanut genome
Cultivated peanut is an allotetraploid species which means it has four sets of chromosomes and each set has ten chromosomes. Two sets of these chromosomes originate from a diploid species Arachis ipaensis and the other two sets from Arachis duranensis. Scientific evidence supports the origin of cultivated peanut from a single natural interspecific hybridization event between Arachis ipaensis and Arachis duranensis followed by chromosome doubling around 10,000 years ago in South America. Since then, the tetraploid peanut has been selected and domesticated for human consumption. The difference in chromosome numbers between cultivated peanut (tetraploid) and its wild relatives (diploid) results in crossing barriers. Therefore, cultivated peanut evolved with limited genetic diversity because of its isolation from the rich sources of genetic diversity among its wild diploid relatives. This narrow genetic base of cultivated peanut has been a challenge for peanut genetic studies. Detection of genetic differences (genetic polymorphisms) among peanut lines is critical to understanding genetic control of important traits for peanut production such as disease resistance, drought tolerance and aflatoxin resistance. Early genetic works used simple sequence repeat markers (SSR), amplified fragment length polymorphic markers (AFLP), restriction fragment length polymorphisms (RFLP) and other genetic marker types to detect polymorphism among peanut lines. Compared to the 2.6 billion base pair genome size of cultivated peanut, the tens to a couple of hundreds of markers detected by these early marker types are too sparse. On the other hand, unlike the limited presence of these earlier marker types in the peanut genome, single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) are abundant in peanut. In order to facilitate high throughput genotyping of peanut, doctors Josh Clevenger and Peggy Ozias-Akins led the research effort to develop the largescale SNP array in 2015. The research team performed lowcoverage sequencing of cultivated peanut lines and wild species. They utilized the newly assembled peanut genomes for Arachis duranensis and Arachis ipaensis and custom bioinformatic programs to perform SNP calling among cultivated and wild peanut lines.
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— Section —
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
28 A total of 58,233 SNPs were sent to Affymetrix (currently Thermofisher Scientific) for SNP chip production. This first Arachis SNP chip was proven to be highly informative and provided new insights into the genetic diversity and breeding history of cultivated peanut. Several peanut genetic mapping populations were genotyped with this array. Even though the parents of these mapping populations are very close genetically, over a thousand genetic markers for each cross were curated from the SNP array and greatly increased the density and accuracy of genetic maps. The abundance of genetic markers allows the marker coverage of every chromosome in the peanut genome. Further genetic studies on these populations led to the discovery of molecular markers associated with size and shape of peanut pods and disease resistance to stem rot and leaf spots. These markers developed from the array were adapted to peanut-breeding programs to facilitate the integration of disease resistance through marker-assisted-selection. The application of genetic marker technology in breeding programs has been shown to shorten the breeding cycle by six or more years. One of the drawbacks of this first version of the SNP array is the high cost, $58.00 per sample, which is prohibitive for peanut research groups to perform large-scale genotyping of their peanut lines. The second drawback is the presence of false SNPs on the first array, that is the SNPs were identifying differences between the two diploid-derived sub-genomes but not within each. Two years later, an opportunity arose for the peanut research community to get a new contract price of $28.00 per sample by designing a second version of the array. Dr Clevenger teamed up with Dr Walid Korani to improve the SNP calling pipeline by integrating machine learning and neural network algorithms. They were able to clean up the false SNPs on the first array and introduced newly validated SNPs.
Currently, over 16,000 wild and cultivated peanut lines have been genotyped in our program and in collaboration with peanut research teams from all over the world including India, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Senegal and Israel. Other research groups also independently submitted samples for genotyping using this new version of the SNP array. A number of research projects on peanut genetic diversity, dynamics between wild and cultivated genomes, markers for disease resistance, and peanut quality traits were published. As an example, peanut lines tested for SMUT resistance were genotyped by the array to discover markers for peanut SMUT resistance. These samples were tested by Dr Jorge Baldessari, a peanut breeder from the National Institute for Agricultural Technology in Argentina. The rich genetic information provided by the SNP array revolutionized peanut genetic research and fast-tracked genetic discovery of peanut. Genetic markers derived from the array have been shown to vastly benefit the peanut industry by facilitating the release of new cultivars packaged with host resistances that not only improve farm profitability but also reduce agricultural carbon foot print.
SNPs: What does it really mean? —
This is the definition of SNPs provided by Francis S. Collins, MD, PhD (he refers to human DNA, but the concept is the same for any living organism): “Single nucleotide polymorphism is way too many syllables, so you can understand why we just say ‘snip.’ And this is really a simple concept. These are the places in the genome where people differ. In about one out of every 1,000 letters of the code, you’ll run into one of these where I might have a C and you might have a T, and we’d call that a SNP. Most SNPs don’t do very much, ’cause they’re in a part of the genome that doesn't have a critical function. But some of them confer a risk of disease like diabetes or heart disease, and those are of intense current interest because of what they teach us about why those diseases happen.” By comparing the actual DNA of a peanut variety with the SNPs’ array map, breeders may get important information regarding the plant’s traits that could significantly shorten the breeding cycle.
— Section —
PEANUTS AS A SUPERFOOD
A study from the University of Barcelona provides further evidence that peanut consumption has a positive effect on cognitive functions.
Food for the Brain According to Dr Samara Sterling, a scientist at The Peanut Institute, “When you break down the nutritional structure of peanuts, they have a unique combination of vitamins, minerals and bioactive compounds, including resveratrol, niacin, vitamin E and coumaric acids, that can contribute to cognition and mental health.”
This statement seems to have been confirmed by a recent study at the University of Barcelona, Spain, where more than 60 students participated in a controlled trial, consuming 25 grams a day of roasted peanuts with skin or 32 grams of peanut butter. During the study, other students consumed a similar quantity of a control butter which was free of phenolic compounds and fiber. Several products rich in resveratrol, an antioxidant present in peanuts, such as dark chocolate and wine, were excluded from the diet. Before and after the process, scientists administered neuropsychological tests and questionnaires in order to assess the cognitive function of the students and found a positive impact from peanut consumption.
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As Dr Rosa Lamuela-Raventos, the lead researcher, said, “The improvement of memory function and stress response after consuming regular peanuts and peanut butter seem to be related to the mental health effects of bioactive compounds such as resveratrol and p-coumaric acid found in peanuts, as well as the increased level of short chain fatty acids and very long chain saturated fatty acids in plasma and feces associated with peanut consumption.”
Increased responsiveness of brain blood vessels (University of South Australia)
The study was performed at the University of Barcelona (Department of Nutrition, Food Sciences and Gastronomy, XIA, School of Pharmacy and Food Sciences, at the INSAUniversity of Barcelona and CIBEROBN). Of course, this is not the first time that a positive correlation has been found between peanut consumption and an improvement of cognitive functions. A few years ago, for example, a significant trial conducted by the University of South Australia came to a similar conclusion: “High-Oleic peanut supplementation had the potential to optimize circulatory function and improve cognitive function,” as Dr Alson Coates, the researcher, stated at the time.
How nutrients in nuts contribute to brain health (University of South Australia) B GROUP VITAMINS (folate, vitamin B2, vitamin B6 and vitamin B12)
Necessary for the production of specific components of the brain, such as neurotransmitters and cell structure
POLYUNSATURATES FATTY ACIDS
Critical components of neuronal cell membranes, maintaining membrane fluidity and communication between brain cells
VITAMIN E
Directly involved in nervous cell membrane protection through its action as an antioxidant
MAGNESIUM AND CALCIUM
Regulation of brain cell communication (neurotransmission)
ZINC
Component of enzymes an das a structural component of many proteins, hormones, hormone receptors and molecules involved in brain cell communication (neuropeptides)
IRON
Necessary to ensure oxygenation of the brain, as well as for the synthesis of neurotransmitters and myelin
TRACE MINERALS SUCH AS MANGANESE AND COPPER
Participate in enzymatic mechanisms that protect against free radical damage
PHYTONUTRIENTS (such as carotenoids and flavonoids)
Neuroprotective function through its role as an antioxidant
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— Section —
PEANUT FARMING
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— Section —
PEANUT FARMING
The Fundamental Importance of Soil The ideal conditions for peanut growing.
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The growth and development of peanuts are influenced mainly by temperature: the physiological processes of the plant take place, ideally, between 20 and 35 degrees Celsius. The average daily temperatures that are necessary in order to achieve good peanut yields range between 18 and 33 degrees. The ideal temperatures for growth range between 25 and 30 degrees, and between 28 and 33 degrees for flowering and maturity. As far as rain is concerned, between 500 and 700 millimeters of rain is necessary during the crop cycle, even though it is possible to achieve satisfactory yields starting with 400 millimeters during the growth season. Due to the features of their flowering, peanuts have particular edaphic requirements. They need deep and well-drained soil. Ideally, a loamy sand soil, though they can grow in clay sand soil as well. The fields should include calcium, boron and magnesium, and bear a moderate content of organic matter. All these features facilitate the development of an ample root system, the penetration by the peg, the growth of the fruit, and allow for the digging of clean shells. In heavier soils of a finer texture, harvesting becomes more difficult and the plant is exposed to flooding and its dire consequences. As for the pH, the best yields are achieved in slightly acid soils, with pH ranging between 6.0 to 7.0. Nevertheless, it is also possible to obtain good yields starting with a pH of 5.5; it is fundamental, however, that the pH is not below 5 in order to avoid toxicity problems. Certain peanut varieties can bear up to an 8.0 pH, which can be considered an alkaline-tolerant cultivar. However, an excess of sodium or alkaline may provoke problems in germination, growth and yield.
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This issue of the World Peanut Magazine has been completed thanks to the efforts of: Ricardo Vanni
Robson Fonseca
Argentina
Brazil
University of Corrientes
Coplana
Ye Chu
Manuel Eduardo Vicondo
USA
Argentina
Department of Horticulture, The University of Georgia
National University of Cordoba
Josh Clevenger
Mariela Monetti Ricardo Pedelini
USA
Hudson Alpha Institute for Biotechnology
Javier Martinetto Gabriela Alcorta Verónica Quiroga Soledad Bossio Edoardo Fracanzani Sebastián Della Giustina Argentina
cam (Argentina Peanut Chamber)
Argentina
Argentina National Institute of Agriculture Technology
Peggy Ozias-Akins USA
Martin Frigerio
Department of Horticulture, The University of Georgia
Argentina
Argentina Peanut Foundation
Samara Sterling USA
The Peanut Institute
Graphic Design and illustrations. ese-estudio.com.ar Typography. Journalist by Sergio Rodriguez / Cantarell by Dave Crossland / Work Sans by Wei Huang Illustration pag. 06. Felix Díaz Lozada Picture pag. 28. Genomic DNA extracted from 11 individuals representing nine Arachis species / t.ly/b4lk Weather icons. by asylab. www.freepik.com
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Cámara Argentina del Maní 20 de Septiembre 855 “A”. (X5809AJI) General Cabrera · Córdoba, Argentina Tel +54 358 4933118 cam@camaradelmani.org.ar www.camaradelmani.org.ar