What Is George Washington Carver's "300 Uses for Peanuts" List?
George Washington Carver claimed that he discovered over 300 ways to use peanuts, and he published a list of all them. He was an American educator, botanist, and inventor. He is known for inventing several new uses for the peanut, thus revolutionizing the peanut industry.
Carver spent many years researching the peanut. He discovered that after separating the fats, oils, resins, gums and sugars, myriad products could be made from peanuts. These include popular items like pancake flour, peanut butter, coffee and mayonnaise. Also included are items such as pomade, shampoo, shaving cream, rubber and glue.
However, the list has received some criticism; to start with, he included 11 flours, 11 wall boards, 17 stains and 30 cloth dyes. These items make up a third of the list. The list also has shredded peanuts and salted peanuts, which are more or less the same.
The full list is available on Tuskegee University's website.