Roasted peanuts were stored at four temperatures (23, 30, 35, 40C) and five equilibrium relative humidity (0.33, 0.44, 0.54, 0.67, 0.75 aw). Samples were removed after storage between 0 and 91 d and evaluated for their descriptive, consumer and physicochemical profiles. Sensory and instrumental attributes were significantly (p<0.05) affected by storage time and water activity. In addition to storage time and water activity, flavor attributes such as roasted peanutty and cardboard flavor, consumer aroma and flavor acceptance, and consumer intensity ratings of staled/oxidized/rancid and roasted peanutty ratings significantly (p<0.05) changed with increasing storage temperature. Roasted peanuts retained its best sensory characteristics if stored at 23C and between 0.33 and 0.41 aw. When stored at 0.4, 0.5, 0.6 and 0.7 aw, the shelf life (consumer acceptance = 5.0) of roasted peanuts was estimated to be 73, 40, 20 and 4 d at 23C, 50, 26, 13, 4 d at 30C, 40, 22, 12, 4 d at 35C, and 30, 15, 10, 3 d at 40C, respectively. Instrumental measurements such as color and moisture can be used to predict (p<0.05, R2>0.70) the acceptance of stored roasted peanuts.
