Throwing away orange peels is a shame! You throw away vitamin C when you throw away orange peels. You can do all kinds of things with it in the kitchen. Orange peels are super healthy. Using orange peel provides you with an extra kitchen ingredient. You can use it in different ways. NB! This article is written from the personal view of the author and may contain information that is not scientifically substantiated and/or in line with the general view.
Contents:
- Orange peel is a product, not waste
- Eating orange peel
- Washing the peel
- Lots of vitamin C
- Vitamins in orange peel
- Make your own orange peel powder
- How do you use orange powder?
- Make your own orange tea
- Orange peel against cancer?
- Orange peel for ear infection
Orange peel is a product, not waste
Orange peels can be used by humans as a natural flavoring that contains many nutrients. They can also be used as animal feed, raw material for essential oils, raw material for pectin, for the production of ethanol and for fertilizing agricultural land. A scientific study from 2010 lists all these possible applications. Each of these uses shows that it is unnecessary to view orange peels as a waste product; it is a product that has a range of possibilities.
Eating orange peel
You can eat orange peel. It does require some editing. A relatively simple operation is to dry orange peel. You can dry it on the radiator, in the sun or in a lukewarm oven that you have just used to make a dish. Make sure you wash the peel well first to prevent contamination.
You can use fresh orange peel to make your own marmalade.
Washing the peel
Use an orange that is fresh and looks nice and colorful, without all kinds of brown spots. Because oranges are grown using insecticides and pesticides, it is important to wash the peel thoroughly. It is therefore better to use organic or biodynamic oranges. The peels of almost all fruits often contain tiny eggs that are invisible to the eye. That is why it is wise to wash them well. You can choose to soak the fruits in salt water for half an hour, then they will be removed faster and better from insect eggs, insecticides, herbicides, pesticides, fungicides and parasites. After washing, dry the oranges with a tea towel. Now they are ready to peel and the peel is ready to dry.
Lots of vitamin C
100 grams of orange peel contains no less than 226% of the RDA of vitamin C. Relatively speaking, the peel contains more vitamin C than the flesh of the orange! In total, there is twice as much vitamin C in the peel as in the flesh. Now you will say: Yes, but who eats 100 grams of orange peel a day? Hardly anyone does that, but these data give a good indication of how healthy it is. Suppose you make a dish that contains 10 grams of orange peel, then you know that it contains 22% of the RDA of vitamin C. In combination with all the other food in a day, you can check whether you are getting enough vitamin C. Vitamin C is a strong antioxidant and prevents a range of diseases. Many lifestyle diseases are caused by a deficiency of antioxidants and an excess of free radicals. Antioxidants fight free radicals.
Vitamins in orange peel
There are vitamins in the peel of oranges. Vitamin A contains 14% of the RDI in orange peels. Pyridoxine or vitamin B6 contains 13% of the RDA. Vitamin B1 and B5 both have vitamin percentages of 10%. The vitamins B2 and B11 contain an RDA percentage of 7% in 100 grams of the peel of oranges. The RDA percentage of vitamin B3 is 6%. Other vitamins found in the peel of oranges have a lower RDA percentage than 5%.
Make your own orange peel powder
Making orange painter powder is simple. There are two ways. The easiest way is to dry the peels. When they have become hard and dry, you can grind them into powder with a food processor, coffee grinder or blender. You can then store them in a closed jar. Make sure the peels are completely dry before putting them in a jar. If they are still a little wet, the contents can become moldy. So let them dry out thoroughly.
How do you use orange powder?
You can add orange peel powder to a smoothie, muesli, oatmeal and dough for cakes or cookies. You can also provide a marinade for a salad with orange powder. You can also add orange powder to ice cream. Make your own orange flavored ice cream. The orange powder can also be used as an instant drink.
Make your own orange tea
Once you have dried orange slices you can use them to make tea. Dried orange slices give off more flavor than fresh orange. You can use dried orange in combination with black or green tea. It can also be used in a fresh fruit mix.
Orange peel against cancer?
American research from 2007 shows that the risk of colon cancer in mice is much smaller if orange peel is regularly eaten. Among other things, it was seen that the tumors became smaller after eating a small amount of orange peel every day for 9 weeks. The researchers suspect that substances in orange peel induce cancer cells to apoptosis; the death of a cancer cell. Other American research from 2007 shows that apoptosis also occurs in human breast cancer cell lines. In this study, scientists consider polymethoxyflavones responsible for the anti-cancer effect of orange peel. One of these substances is nobiletine, which has long been known to have an anti-cancer effect.
Orange peel for ear infection
In 2012, a Chinese study was published that used animals to test how much orange peel essential oil can help with middle ear infections. The Chinese researchers conclude that the oxidative stress that causes a middle ear infection is reduced after using a few drops of essential orange peel oil.
