The Proteins of the Peanut, Arachis Hypogaea.

The ravages of the boll weevil have made it unprofitable to grow cotton in various sections throughout the South. In many regions where the growing of cotton has been decreased, peanuts are now being grown as a supplementary crop. This has caused a large increase in the production of peanuts in the United States. A number of mills which in the past produced cottonseed oil are now using their presses for the production of peanut oil. The press-cake thus obtained as a by-product is used for cattle food and sells at about thirty-five dollars a ton. This cake, therefore, furnishes a relatively cheap source of food with a very high protein content. The most striking result brought out during this investigation is the fact ‘that the globulins of the peanut contain a high percentage of basic nitrogen when compared with the proteins of other seeds commonly used for food. Work on the hydrolysis and separation of the amino-acids of the peanut globulins is in progress and will be reported in a later publication. The proteins of the peanut have received but little attention. The only published experiments seem to be those described by Ritthausenl in a paper which appeared in 1880. This author extracted oil-free peanut meal with a solution of sodium chloride and with solutions of potassium, calcium, and barium hydroxides. From the sodium chloride extract he obtained the globulin by saturating the diluted extract with carbon dioxide, or simply by diluting the extract with a large volume of water. Apparently the same globulin was obtained by acidifying the alkaline ex-