While ‘nut’ is in their name, peanuts are in fact legumes.

Peanuts grow underground. For this reason, they are commonly referred to as ‘ground nuts’. Other nuts, such as almonds, pistachios and walnuts, grow on trees (and are referred to as ‘tree nuts‘).

Peanuts have a similar nutritional make-up to tree nuts, so share some of the health benefits of tree nuts.