Usually, when we eat fruits and vegetables, we need to peel them. In fact, the peels of many fruits and vegetables are very nutritious, and it's a pity to throw them away. So, what are some clever uses for the peels of common fruits and vegetables?
Clever Uses for Fruit and Vegetable Peels
1. Pear Peel
Pear peel is a traditional Chinese medicine with high medicinal value, which can clear the heart, moisten the lungs, reduce fire, and promote fluid production. Washing, chopping, and stewing the pear peel with rock sugar can treat coughs. Adding a bit of pear peel when making homemade pickles can make them crispier and more delicious.
2. Apple Peel
Apple peel has an astringent effect. Decocting it into a soup or steeping it as tea can treat excessive stomach acid and phlegm. Drying it, grinding it into a powder, and taking it on an empty stomach (2-3 times a day) has a certain therapeutic effect on chronic diarrhea, neurotic colitis, and hypertension. Additionally, mashing fresh apple peel into a paste and applying it to a cloth to scrub bathtubs, washbasins, and toilets can restore their shine.
3. Pomelo Peel
It can regulate qi, resolve phlegm, relieve coughs, and calm asthma. Chopping a pomelo peel, steaming it with an appropriate amount of honey or malt sugar until soft, then adding a small amount of hot yellow wine and taking one spoonful orally in the morning and evening can treat coughs and asthma in the elderly. Drinking a decoction of pomelo peel can resolve phlegm, aid digestion, calm asthma, and relieve hernia pain. Furthermore, placing pomelo peels in the kitchen cabinet or refrigerator can remove odors.
4. Banana Peel
Banana peel contains musarin, which can treat skin itching caused by fungal and bacterial infections. It also has the effects of quenching thirst, moistening the lungs and intestines, invigorating blood circulation, and nourishing the essence. Mashing a banana peel with ginger juice can reduce inflammation and relieve pain. Rubbing hands and feet with banana peel can prevent chapping and chilblains. In addition, it can also treat hypertension and prevent cerebral hemorrhage. Drying banana peels and grinding them into powder is also an excellent beauty product for skin protection. Furthermore, repeatedly rubbing leather shoes with banana peel can remove stains from the upper, and then applying shoe polish can instantly make them shine.
5. Winter Melon Peel
Winter melon peel has the effects of relieving summer heat, strengthening the spleen, and promoting urination. It can be used for edema, abdominal distension, and dysuria caused by kidney, lung, or heart diseases. Washing feet with a decoction of winter melon peel treats both athlete's foot and foot odor, killing two birds with one stone.
6. Orange Peel
Washing and steaming orange peel with sugar to make a syrup can regulate qi, clear the lungs, remove dampness, relieve coughs, and resolve phlegm. Additionally, orange peel contains alkaline properties; using it with a little salt can wipe away stains from ceramic, enamel, and aluminum-iron cookware and tableware. Orange peel also contains more aromatic substances; placing a small amount in the refrigerator can remove odors. Adding a bit of orange peel to homemade organic fertilizer can prevent the fertilizer from smelling bad.
7. Watermelon Peel
The effect of watermelon peel is superior to its flesh. In traditional Chinese medicine, the peel is called "Xigua Cuiyi" (watermelon green rind) and has the effects of clearing heat and relieving summer heat, purging fire and eliminating irritability, and lowering blood pressure. It also has a certain therapeutic effect on anemia, dry throat, chapped lips, and patients with cystitis, hepatic ascites, and nephritis. Furthermore, because watermelon peel contains vitamins C and E, rubbing it on the skin or applying it as a paste for 10-15 minutes before washing with water has the effects of nourishing, softening, and beautifying the skin, and preventing and treating heat rash and boils.
8. Cucumber Peel
Cucumber peel can detoxify. Cucumber peel contains more cucurbitacin, which is the essence of cucumber's nutrition. Eating cucumbers with the skin not only allows for full absorption of vitamin C but also helps the body detoxify effectively. In addition, cucumber peel also has antibacterial and anti-inflammatory effects.
9. Tomato Peel
Tomato peel prevents cancer. Lycopene is the strongest natural antioxidant discovered to date, which can prevent and treat cardiovascular diseases, improve the body's immunity, and prevent cancer. It is most abundant in the tomato peel. In addition, tomato peel also helps maintain intestinal health. Therefore, eating tomatoes with the skin is the most nutritious.
10. Eggplant Peel
Eggplant is a dietary delicacy for patients with cardiovascular diseases, but most of its nutrients are hidden in the peel. Peeling the eggplant not only reduces its health value but also causes the iron in it to oxidize upon contact with air, turning it black and affecting the body's absorption of iron.