Peanut vs Groundnut Oil: Nutritional Profiles and High-Heat Cooking Tests
By Sophia Al-Mansoor
The culinary divergence happens at the mill. Traditional Indian cooking relies on kachi ghani extraction, a heritage technique that uses wooden or stone pestles to slowly crush seeds without external heat. Friction temperatures rarely exceed 45°C to 50°C (113°F to 122°F). This preserves raw plant sterols, natural tocopherols (vitamin E), and volatile pyrazines, which deliver an intense, earthy aroma and a deep golden tint.
Industrial processing strips those elements away. Commercial refined peanut oil undergoes hexane extraction, high-heat desolventization, neutralization with sodium hydroxide, bleaching with diatomaceous earth, and final deodorization at temperatures above 230°C (446°F). This harsh refining cascade deliberately removes free fatty acids, trace solids, and aromatic volatile compounds. What emerges from the refinery is a pale, nearly odorless neutral fat tailored exclusively for thermal durability.
Sophia analyzes international trade, startup ecosystems, retail transformation, and supply chain logistics for modern digital publications.
