Groundnut Cake

Kernels are crushed by pressing, sometimes followed by solvent extraction of the press cake. Where only pressing is used, the product is an expeller cake retaining appreciable oil; where a solvent stage follows, the result is a more thoroughly de-oiled meal. Expeller cake carries more energy but keeps less well, since residual oil is what goes rancid.

Where the kernels were decorticated before crushing — as is usual — the cake is comparatively low in fibre for an oilseed meal, which is part of why it is well regarded. Cake made from undecorticated material carries shell and is a poorer, more fibrous product.

Groundnut cake is used across ruminant, pig, and poultry diets and is a significant protein source in South Asian and African feed markets. Formulators regard its protein favourably while noting that its amino acid profile differs from soybean meal, so it is not a like-for-like substitution.

The practical consequence for the trade is that cake is bought with regard to where the kernels came from, how they were dried and stored, and what testing the contract requires — rather than on appearance and analysis alone.

Cake ships in bulk, in bags, and as pressed slabs or cakes broken for handling; extracted meal is commonly pelleted. It is hygroscopic, and cake held moist or warm can heat, mould, and support further fungal growth — which for this material is a safety concern as well as a quality one. Cool, dry storage with stock rotation is the norm, and expeller grades with higher residual oil have the shortest keeping quality.