American Groundnut growth stages

If you’re up for an adventure, you might want to consider growing American peanuts

HERB BLURB

Dep. Plant Pathology, Univ. of Missouri, Columbia, MO: The American groundnut (Apios americana Medikus) is a nitrogen-fixing legume that produces edible tubers and seeds. Although studies have been conducted on the quality of tuber storage compounds, little is known about compounds that may have beneficial effects on human and animal health. The purpose of this study was to investigate the presence of genistein in the tubers. The nodC gene of Rhizobium fredii Scholla and Elkan USDA191 fused to ß-galactosidase was used to detect the presence of genistein in A. americana tubers. The flavonoids from the tubers of A. americana were purified by reverse phase C18 HPLC. The HPLC profile showed nine UV absorption peaks. Among them, Peaks 6 and 8 activated the nodC-lacZ gene fusion about twofold, and most of the induced activity was related to Peak 9. The compound had identical retention times in Peak 9 and the authentic genistein standard. When the tuber flavonoids of A. americana were spiked with an authentic genistein standard, Peak 9 coeluted with genistein. Additionally, a peak at m/z 271, corresponding to protonated genistein, was found when HPLC Peak 9 was analyzed by spray mass spectrometry. The results of this present investigation show that the tubers of A. americana contain the isoflavone genistein. The discovery of genistein in the tubers of A. americana should reignite the interest in this legume as a food crop since it is clear that genistein reduces the incidence of various types of cancer. Contribution from the Univ. of Missouri Agric. Cats. Stn., Journal No. 12703, Columbia, MO 65211. Received for publication November 13, 1997.

CLIMATE AND SOIL

Peanuts are best grown in 25°C to 35°C daytime temperatures. and cool temperatures at night throughout the growing period. They are sensitive to photoperiod and need to be taken care of. And although they are drought tolerant, they flourish adequately in good soil water content and a good amount of rainfall just like many other plants. So, apart from the climate, there is also soil to take care of.

These kharif crops generally require well-drained, calcium-rich soil with added organic matter. The desired Ph is 6.0 to 6.5.

American peanuts by any other name

To alleviate any confusion, we should also mention that there are many other common names for American peanuts, which is often the case plants with a wide geographical distribution. A few other names you may have heard:

• cinnamon vine,
• Indian potato,
• bean potato.

Yield Components:

Peanut kernel yield is the product of part number, number of kernels per part and individual kernel weight. The kernels per pod vary from 2 to 6, pods per plant from 50 to 105 and 100 kernel weights from 28 to 62 g. This variation is related to cultivar, spacing, fertilizer and climate. Fruit components are most sensitive to environmental stress during the flowering and kernel growth stages.

There is a high positive correlation between the number of ripe fractions and the yield of fractions. In general, the number of plants per plant decreases with increasing plant density. Wider spacing increases the number of branches per plant and the number of mature parts per plant. The literature on fraction yields indicates a maximum contribution to pod yield from the number of fractions per plant followed by 100 kernel weight.