Food - Drink
The Absolute Best Uses For Banana Peels
By MELIS AMBER
Eliminate Food Waste
Bananas are the world's second-largest fruit crop, and their skins account for 30 to 40% of their total mass; throwing away these peels contributes to 3.5 million tons of waste per year. Instead of tossing your peels in the trash, do one better and use them in these fantastic ways.
Drink Them
You can make a "tea" out of banana peels that can ease bloating and help you sleep, due to high levels of tryptophan, magnesium, and potassium. If that doesn't entice you, consider making banana peel rum, or water your plants with banana peel water so they can drink up those nutrients, too.
Bake With Them
There are a couple of ways to incorporate these fiber-packed fruit skins into baked goods. Try adding smoothly-pureed banana skins to your banana bread batter to increase the nutritional content and cut down on waste without affecting flavor.
Add To Curries
People in the west have only recently discovered the benefits of eating banana peels, but they are a part of many traditional Indian dishes, such as banana peel curry. Chutney is another great use for the banana peel, consisting of banana peel, chilies, garlic, oil, and spices.
Make Vinegar
Making banana peel vinegar is not a quick process and takes about two months to complete, but the results will be worth it. Despite the peels' bitterness, vinegar made from the peel has appealing sweet undertones; in the Philippines, banana peels are also used in a variety of other sauces.