<p>Peanut oil, also known as groundnut oil, is a mild tasting
vegetable oil derived from peanuts. The oil is available in
refined, unrefined, cold pressed, and roasted varieties, the
latter with a strong peanut flavor and aroma, analogous to
toasted sesame oil. It is often used in Chinese, South Asian and
Southeast Asian cuisine, both for general cooking, and in the
case of roasted oil, for added flavor. Peanut oil has a high
smoke point relative to many other cooking oils, so is commonly
used for frying foods. Its major component fatty acids are oleic
acid (46.8% as olein), linoleic acid (33.4% as linolein), and
palmitic acid (10.0% as palmitin). The oil also contains some
stearic acid, arachidic acid, arachidonic acid, behenic acid,
lignoceric acid and other fatty acids. Antioxidants such as
Vitamin E are sometimes added, to improve the shelf life of the
oil. The oil had increased use in the United States during World
War II, due to war shortages of other oils. According to the
USDA data upon which the foll