Little wonder the 15th century Portuguese traders carried peanuts on their ships as an essential food. Modern science has now demonstrated that peanuts are one of the most complete nutritional resources available.
So if you love to snack on peanuts, you can do it completely guilt-free! Here's a quick run-down on all the goodness that Mother Nature packs into every single one of our peanuts.
The peanut was introduced to China by Portuguese traders in the 1600s and another variety by American missionaries in the 1800s. They became popular and are featured in many Chinese dishes, often being boiled. During the 1980s peanut production began to increase greatly so that as of 2006 China was the world's largest peanut producer. A major factor in this increase has been China's move away from a communist economic system toward a free market system so that farmers are free to grow and market their crops as they decide.