Question

Why is buried groundnut a fruit?

Answer 1

The botanical definition of a "nut" is a fruit whose ovary wall becomes very hard at maturity. Using this criterion, the peanut is not a nut, but rather a legume. A legume is a plant in the family Fabaceae. However, for culinary purposes and in common English language usage, peanuts are usually referred to as nuts.

1. Peanut grow under ground but it is not a root, flowers do come to its plant but peanuts do not produce through its flowers, it can not be a stem.
2. The flower of the Arachis hypogaea is borne above ground and after it withers, the stalk elongates, bends down, and forces the ovary underground.
3. When the seed is mature, the inner lining of the pods (called the seed coat) changes color from white to a reddish brown.
4. The pods begin in the orange veined, yellow petaled, pealike flowers, which are borne in axillary clusters above ground.
5. Following self-pollination (peanuts are complete inbreeders), the flowers fade. The stalks at the bases of the ovaries, called pegs, elongate rapidly, and turn downward to bury the fruits several inches in the ground to complete their development.
6. Peanuts are probably the sneakiest type of legumes, if only because of their name.
7. Like other legumes, peanuts are problematic because they contain lectins and phytic acid, but peanuts also bring a new guest to the party: aflatoxins. Aflatoxins aren’t actually part of the peanut itself; they’re produced by a mold that tends to grow on peanut.