New varieties of peanuts help with heart problems

American horticulturists have developed the two new varieties of peanut rich in oleic acid — a mono-unsaturated fatty acid that helps to raise levels of “good” cholesterol protecting arteries embolism. An average peanut contains 20% of unsaturated fats enabling embolism that leads to heart problems. Oleic acid lowers cholesterol levels that are not good to heart.

Horticulturists have been developing the varieties for a decade but have succeeded only last year. One of the new sorts name is “Olin” (Spanish peanut) — small round nuts with the brown reddish peel. It is frequently used for sweets, peanut butter and salty snacks. The other variety is “Tamrun OL 01 " — a bit softer kind of peanut. It basically used in peanut butter manufactory.

Oleic acid is present in many peanut sorts. For example, a handful (about 10 g) of roasted nuts contains 5 g of fat, and 55 % of it is occupied by oleic acid. But the new sorts contain one and a half time as much oleic acid, than average peanut, i.e. about 75% per 5 g of fat in the handful. However there are remaining 20% of saturated fats.

Specialists expect that the new peanut, which was grown by efforts of the Agriculture department of the University of Texas, will appear in supermarkets soon.