Groundnut Oil Culture in Solapur: Traditional Cold-Pressed Fats

Solapur district is part of Maharashtra's groundnut belt, where the crop is grown on well-drained red-black soil mixed zones in the kharif season. Groundnut (Arachis hypogaea, called shengdana in Marathi) is harvested in October-November after 100-130 days, the pods dried and shelled before extraction. Traditional cold-pressed groundnut oil, produced in wooden chek-ghanis (oil presses) by the Teli (oil presser caste), is a distinctive cooking fat in the Solapur-Satara region. Cold-pressed groundnut oil retains the natural peanut flavour and beneficial oleic acid and resveratrol content. The traditional oil press operated by bullock power produces oil at low temperature, preserving flavour compounds. Peanut butter, a modern product now increasingly popular, has traditional antecedents in the groundnut chutney powder (shengdana chutney) made by Solapur households as a daily condiment. Groundnut shells serve as biomass fuel for tractors and boilers.