Banana peel: a new ingredient for baking, healthy and delicious
Kyiv • UNN
Studies have shown that banana peel flour can improve baking. It enriches products with fiber, magnesium and antioxidants, making them healthier.
Every time you peel a banana and throw away the peel, you're throwing away a delicious, nutritious snack. Yes, one study showed that if banana peels are blanched, dried and ground into flour, they can be turned into baked goods that will be as enjoyable, if not better, than wheat-based products, UNN reports citing Science Alert.
Details
You probably never thought about cooking with banana peel. But it's not only completely safe, it's actually good for you.
During a taste test of the experiment's products, consumers reported that they were as satisfied with the taste as they were with sugar cookies. You also get a generous serving of cancer-fighting minerals and nutrients. Banana peel-enriched sugar cookies contained much more fiber, magnesium, potassium and antioxidant compounds.
At the same time, it is noted that adding too much banana peel flour made the cookies somewhat hard - possibly due to excess fiber. But when the batches were made with flour containing 7.5% banana peel, the texture of the cookies achieved a much more appealing balance.
As a bonus, the goods also stored well for three months at room temperature
They point out that using banana peel flour in breads, cakes and pastas is also worth noting.
A study of banana peel cake found that the yellow peel of the fruit provides a natural food coloring to the baked goods, as well as enhances nutrition.
The authors summarize that unprocessed banana peels have no benefits, but if prepared properly, they can actually be very tasty.
Let us remind you
By 2080, it will become economically unprofitable to grow bananas for export in many regions of Latin America and the Caribbean. According to scientists' forecasts, this will happen due to rising temperatures caused by climate change.
