Gaby
Researchers have discovered that banana peels are a valuable ingredient for a variety of reasons.
A team from the University of Houston (USA) and Aligarh Muslim University (India) has demonstrated that by blanching, drying, and grinding banana peels into flour, you can create delicious baked goods. These treats can be just as tasty, if not better, than those made with wheat flour.
If you’re not a devoted reader of vegan blogs or a fan of renowned chef Nigella Lawson, you might not have considered cooking with banana peels. However, it’s not only completely safe but, as scientists have shown, it can also be delicious and nutritious.
What Did the Researchers Discover?
The team found that baked goods made with banana peels can provide a generous serving of minerals and cancer-fighting nutrients. The sugar cookies enriched with banana peels, created during the study, contained significantly more fiber, magnesium, potassium, and antioxidant compounds.
Interestingly, the fiber from banana peels helps improve digestion, enriching the gut with beneficial flora. When participants in the experiment were asked to evaluate the baked goods made with this secret ingredient, they were just as satisfied with the taste as they were with cookies made without banana peels.
On the flip side, adding too much banana peel flour resulted in cookies that were browner and harder—likely due to the extra fiber. However, when cookies were baked with flour containing 7.5 percent banana peel, the texture achieved a much better balance.
The researchers also found that products made with this ingredient can be stored on the shelf for three months at room temperature. They reported that incorporating banana peels is beneficial not only for baked goods (cookies, pastries, cakes, and bread) but also for pasta.
What Do Other Experts Say?
Another team studying banana peel pie confirmed that this natural dye gave the pie a beautiful color. Additionally, this ingredient enhanced the nutritional value of the product.
Another study conducted in 2016 showed that replacing up to 10 percent of wheat flour with banana peel flour enriches baked bread with increased levels of proteins, carbohydrates, and fats.
Not a fan of baked goods? There are other options. The aforementioned Nigella Lawson has used banana peels in curry. Vegan bloggers have recently popularized the idea of banana peel bacon, as reported by Science Alert.
Eating the peel of this fruit is not just beneficial—it also helps reduce food waste. About 40 percent of a banana’s weight comes from the peel, which is often simply discarded.
Of course, eating banana peels raw is unlikely to appeal to anyone. But when prepared correctly, they can enhance the flavor of dishes. The peel can also extend the shelf life of certain foods due to its antioxidant and antimicrobial properties. Interestingly, the same applies to the peels of other fruits, such as mangoes: it has been found that they enhance the antioxidant properties of cakes and improve their taste.
So, the next time you peel a banana for its flesh, consider saving the peel. Your stomach will thank you later.
The results of the study were published in the journal ACS Food Science & Technology.
