Freshly harvested Spanish peanut pods were dried with three different treatments in a controlled temperature and humidity environment. Each treatment included a different combination of temperature above 35°C and time held above this temperature. This procedure, or cycle of time and temperature, was repeated every 24 hours until a wet basis moisture content of approximately 10% was reached. A statistical analysis was conducted to determine whether or not there was any significant difference between treatments. At the 0.1 level of significance, statistical difference between treatments could not be shown. However, on the average, high temperature drying affected the percentage splits more than rate of drying. Splits also seemed to be affected more by temperature level than by exposure length. Findings relating to peanut quality are subject to large experimental error due to variations in variety, climatic and soil conditions, and maturity. Comparison of percentage sound splits was more meaningful when corrected for grade.

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Author notes

1Journal Article No. 3200 of the Oklahoma Agricultural Experiment Station.