Peanut Inspector Certification Practice Exam

Which of the following is considered foreign material in peanut grading?

1. Peanut hulls

2. Whole sound kernels

3. Loose shelled kernels

4. Sound mature kernels

The correct answer is: Peanut hulls

The correct answer identifies peanut hulls as foreign material in the context of peanut grading. In this process, the primary focus is to assess the quality of peanuts based on specific criteria, which includes evaluating the presence of foreign materials that can detract from the overall quality. Peanut hulls are considered byproducts of the peanut processing process, and their presence in a batch of peanuts signifies that the peanuts have not been adequately cleaned or processed. During grading, the aim is to minimize the amount of non-edible material like hulls, as they can affect the marketability and purity of the product. Therefore, the presence of hulls is used as an indicator to evaluate and classify the quality of harvested peanuts. In contrast, whole sound kernels, loose shelled kernels, and sound mature kernels all refer to different classifications of peanuts that are acceptable and typically do not fall under foreign materials. Whole sound kernels are the intact and healthy peanuts that are desirable in grading, while loose shelled kernels and sound mature kernels indicate peanuts that retain their integrity and quality. Hence, they do not constitute foreign material and are valued in the grading process.