HPS stands for hand-picked selected. It is shelled groundnut kernel that has been graded by size and then picked over to remove damaged, discoloured, shrivelled, broken and foreign material, leaving an edible grade.
HPS is the standard grade for peanuts sold for human consumption from India. Lower grades, often called machine-shelled or oil-grade kernels, go to crushing or local markets.
How HPS is made
- Pod cleaning: dried pods are cleaned to remove soil, stones and plant material.
- Shelling: decorticators crack the shells, and aspirators blow the shells away.
- Size grading: kernels pass over screens that separate them into counts such as 40/50 or 60/70.
- Picking: workers on belts remove bad kernels by hand. Many units now add optical colour sorters before or after hand picking.
- Final checks: moisture, count and visual quality are checked before bagging.
What hand picking removes
Picking takes out kernels that look wrong. That includes split and broken kernels, shrivelled or immature kernels, insect-damaged and mouldy kernels, discoloured kernels, kernels of the other type mixed in, and stones, shells and other foreign matter.
This matters for food safety, not just appearance. Aflatoxin tends to concentrate in a small share of damaged, shrivelled and discoloured kernels. Removing them is one of the main ways aflatoxin is lowered, as explained in how aflatoxin in Indian peanuts is tested and controlled.
Hand picking versus colour sorting
The name comes from the days when all picking was manual. Today a sortex or optical sorter often does most of the work, with hand picking as a final pass. A lot described as HPS may therefore be machine sorted, hand picked, or both.
Neither method is perfect. Colour sorters miss defects that do not show on the surface, and hand picking depends on belt speed, lighting and how tired the workers are. Ask the supplier which steps they use and how many passes the lot gets.
What to put in your HPS spec
HPS is a description, not a fixed standard. Two suppliers can both offer HPS and deliver very different quality. Put your limits in writing. The figures below are the kind of points buyers set, and the actual values depend on your market and use.
- Type and count, for example Bold 50/60 or Java 70/80.
- Moisture, often around 7 to 8 percent maximum for illustration.
- Damaged, discoloured and broken kernels, each with a maximum percentage.
- Foreign matter and admixture of the other type.
- Aflatoxin B1 and total aflatoxin to your country's limit, tested on a proper sample.
- Crop year, packing and marking.
How we help
We watch HPS lines in Saurashtra in person, from shelling to picking, and check count and defects against your spec before loading. We also send samples to an NABL-accredited lab for aflatoxin. For an HPS supplier shortlist, ask for a free sourcing review.