Occurrence and quality of Florunner peanuts with purple testae from combined Federal-State check grade samples were examined. The number of purple peanuts varied inversely with seed size, with up to 6.7% weight in the commercial grade size “other edible.” Exposure of viable peanut pods to light affected the development of purple testae. The percentage of No. 1 grade size peanuts with purple testae increased from 0.86 to 8.53 when pods on growing plants were exposed to direct sunlight. Misting freshly harvested peanuts for 10 days in the windrow also increased the occurrence of purple testae. Except for oil color, only slight differences were found in objective quality determinations between purple testae and normal (no purple testae) peanuts of the same size. Peanut butter from normal peanuts was judged better flavored than that from purple testae peanuts but no difference was detected between normal and a sample containing 7.5% purple, although purple testae peanuts increased the tendency toward grayness of the peanut butter. These data indicate the need for reevaluation of the “damage” designation of peanuts with purple testae.