The benefits behind fruit and vegetable peels
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Utilization of fruits and vegetables peels
Fruit and vegetable wastes include leftovers, peels, and seeds cut off of whole fruits. While fruits and vegetables are both excellent sources of nutrients and necessary for overall health, their skins and peels are even more significant. While the peel may not seem appetizing, it can be very helpful in increasing metabolism, regulating blood pressure, and improving eyesight. Peeling, cutting, and sorting raw fruits and vegetables before processing, eating, and cooking regularly produces an enormous amount of waste and can be the cause of environmental health problems if it is not disposed of properly.
These waste materials are abundant in dietary fiber, carotenoids, polyphenols, antioxidants, and essential fatty acids, among other nutrients that have been shown to have positive effects on health, including preventing cancer, heart disease, and other degenerative illnesses. Cake, muffins, biscuits, bread, cookies, and other bakery goods can be fortified by adding fruit and vegetable waste that is suitable for human consumption.
Example:
- Mango: about 40-60% is waste from mango fruit, which is from (peels, stones, and wastes from pulping machines). These can be used in the extraction of (Starch, fat, pectin, and vinegar syrup)
- Pineapple: about (30-60%) is wasted which are from (peel cores and trimmings) These can be used in (vinegar syrup, citric acid, bromelain, biogas)
Example for fortified fruits and beverages
Mango Peel Powder (MPP) used in biscuit formulation has a total dietary fiber, total polyphenols and total carotenoids of 51% and thus, the total dietary fiber content increased from 6.5 to 20.7% with a high proportion of soluble dietary fiber.
Other Studies found that the incorporation of pomegranate and banana peel flour in the preparation of bread was rich in antioxidants, stable to staling and also contained 10-fold higher dietary fiber when compared to the control bread sample, hence be nutritionally and sensory accepted bread could be prepared by replacing 10% of flour.
Consideration for using fruits and vegetables waste
Although the peels have high nutritional value and can be utilized in many fields, you must take a pesticide test before using them as they may contain some pesticides and harmful chemicals. These pesticides are filled with chemicals that can be toxic to our health. That said, these pesticides tend to remain confined in the outer skin of the fruit or vegetable, while some even enter the fruit or vegetable.
References :
1.Ajila CM, Leelavathi K, Rao UP (2008) Improvement of dietary fiber content and antioxidant properties in soft dough biscuits with the incorporation of mango peel powder. J Cereal Sci 48(2): 319-326.
2.Suresh B, Mohammed T, Vishal P (2014) Utilization of banana and pomegranate peel flour in fortification of bread. Int J Eng Res Technol
3.Swamy N (2008) Utilisation of fruit and vegetable wastes, fruits and vegetables technology, process, and product development, Priyadarshini Prakashana
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