A University of Georgia researcher has found a way to combine
two of the most recognizable figures of the snack world into one
tasty treat. And chances are, you can’t eat just one.
Yao-wen Huang, a food scientist with the UGA College of
Agricultural
and Environmental Sciences, has developed the “peanut
chip.”
As the name implies, the chip is a baked product made from
peanuts
instead of the more commonly used potato or corn, Huang says.
“It has the peanut flavor and is like the corn chip
form,”
Huang said. The chip was developed at the UGA Food Processing
Research and Development Laboratory in Athens, Ga.
By-product into New
Product
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value to a common Georgia by-product. |
Georgia produces almost half of the peanuts grown in the United
States. The nuts are primarily used to produce peanut butter and
roasted nuts. But they’re also crushed to make oil.
Manufacturers in the state use a cold pressing process, with low
temperatures and hydraulic pressure, to crush and extract the
oil from the peanut. The by-product from this process is a large
volume of high-protein, low-fat pellets currently used as animal
feed.
In hopes of increasing the value of the cold-pressed peanut
pellets,
Huang developed the peanut chip.
The peanut pellets are ground into a powder, then combined with
either soybean or wheat flour to soften the texture of the
finished
chips. The mixture is made into a dough, which is cut into
squares
and placed on sheets and baked.
The process sounds basic, but finding the magic formula that will
capture consumer taste buds is a little harder. “We’ve done
a plain, basic kind. We’ve sprinkled sugar on them and made other
versions,” he said.
So far, he said, the Cajun-flavored chip has the most
potential.
Huang said the new chip could easily become part of the snack
industry. The chip doesn’t disrupt the market for current peanut
products, and there is no need for different machinery to make
it.
But it may be a while before peanut chips make their way to your
next party platter. To mass produce such a product, other
technologies
must be involved. And other aspects, such as food safety, shelf
life and packaging, have to be considered.
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chips at the UGA Food Processing Research and Development Laboratory. |
“We’re just adding value to a product that was not being
used like this at the time,” Huang said.
The next step will be testing the chip with consumer taste panels
and see if it can become a viable product, Huang said.
“We’re not just making chips,” he said. “We’re
developing healthy chips which incorporate the soybean into
peanut
chips.”
Soybeans have recently been recognized as a health food. However,
American consumers aren’t used to the soybean flavor. Using
peanut
chips as a vehicle to bring the health benefit of soybeans into
American diets will be an innovative approach, Huang said.
So far, the peanut chip prototype was tested at the Georgia
Capitol
during the Peanut Butter and Jelly Day Fair last year. Responses
from lawmakers and interested public were positive, Huang
said.
“But the final judgment with any product depends on the
consumer,”
he said.
