Lincheng Black Peanuts

Lincheng Black Peanuts

　　Lincheng black peanuts are a specialty of Lincheng County, Xingtai City, Hebei Province. The selenium-rich black peanuts from Lincheng are fresh purple-black when wet and turn jet black when dried. These black peanuts are prized for their high content of protein, arginine, potassium, zinc, and selenium.

　　Lijiaoping Village in Zhaozhuang Township, Lincheng County, is situated in a mountainous region, neighboring the towering and verdant Taihang Mountains, and is rich in natural resources and material wealth. The beautiful mountains and clear waters form a naturally picturesque landscape that embodies the essence of “serenity.”

　　Lijiaoping benefits from uniquely fertile soil, making it an ideal area for peanut cultivation. It has the most suitable soil for growing peanuts—high-fertility sandy loam with excellent drainage, which promotes robust root development and abundant nodulation. The soil’s balanced texture encourages optimal pod development, yielding peanuts with smooth shells, large size, high quality, and strong commercial value. There are also abundant clayey soil resources. Peanut planting covers over 10,000 acres, producing large, white-skinned peanut shells. The kernels are high in oil content and excellent in quality, making them an ideal choice for major vegetable oil producers.

　　In the past, every household in the village grew peanuts, but production was scattered, and outdated varieties along with low yields limited farmers’ incomes. Later, under the leadership of Wang Tianqun, the village committee director, the villagers actively contacted research institutions such as the Hebei Academy of Agricultural Sciences and Hebei Agricultural University to obtain high-quality selenium-rich black peanut varieties, which they then began promoting throughout the village. Wang Tianqun also took the lead in establishing the Lincheng County Guohua Peanut Professional Cooperative to address the issue of low returns from peanut farming.

　　Black peanuts, also known as selenium-rich black peanuts or black-seeded peanuts, are a new variety rich in calcium, potassium, copper, zinc, iron, selenium, manganese, eight types of vitamins, and 19 essential amino acids required by the human body. They also contain high levels of trace elements such as selenium, iron, and zinc, as well as melanin. Compared to red peanuts, black peanuts have 5% higher crude protein, 23.9% higher arginine, 19% higher potassium, 48% higher zinc, and 101% higher selenium. The advantage of black peanuts lies in their unique nutritional profile, which plays an exceptional role in supporting human growth and development, immune function, and cardiovascular health. They offer anti-cancer benefits, protect the liver and heart muscle, help prevent cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, enhance immunity, reduce excess body fat, and provide antioxidant effects that delay aging. Black peanuts hold broad prospects in health foods and medical foods and are a highly promising type of dark-colored food.