Can You Eat These Food Peels?

You have likely prepared a meal that involved the time-consuming and difficult task of cutting peels off of fruits or vegetables. You have probably also wondered whether it's actually necessary or not to remove the peels. While many peels can in fact be eaten, a surprising number shouldn't be ingested.

Fruit and vegetable peels often contain vital nutrients that can be incredibly beneficial to the diet. Not only can they improve your diet, but they can also save time when it comes to kitchen prep and cut down on kitchen waste. But not every peel can or should be eaten. It is important to know which peels are potentially hazardous, inedible, or just taste bad. With so many fruits and veggies out there, it can be hard to know where to start. To help you along, we have compiled a list of 17 peels and give you the low-down on whether or not they can or should be eaten.

Of course, no vegetable is perfect, not even the potato. There is one case when it is not recommended that you eat the peel of the potato: when the peel is green.

This is not an old wives tale; green potatoes really will make you sick. Potatoes turn green when exposed to warmth and light (per Britannica). This particular environment tells them that they should be growing, so the potato ramps up production. However, as part of this, the potato starts to create a neurotoxin called solanine and a toxin called chaconine. These toxins help protect the sprouting potato from pests, but they are harmful to humans. 

One study suggested that just one 16-ounce green potato was enough to make an adult sick. A smaller amount would likely be enough to make a child sick. Symptoms of green potato toxins include vomiting, diarrhea, fever, and headaches. Cooking the potato will not eliminate the toxins, so if you find yourself with some green potatoes, be sure to remove the skin and any green parts of the flesh.

Peach skin has a fuzzy texture that, while fun to touch, is not exactly appetizing. That being said, you might be surprised to learn that peach skin is edible, provides plenty of benefits, and is not as unpleasant to eat as you might think.

Many people eat fruit because of the fiber it adds to the diet. But, as Health Digest notes, if you remove the skin of the peach, you are removing a lot of the beneficial fiber. Additionally, peaches eaten with the peel contain twice as many antioxidant polyphenols as their peeled counterparts.

If eating the skin right on the peach doesn't appeal to you, don't worry. All is not lost. One of the easiest ways to incorporate peach peels into your diet is by leaving them on when you bake peaches in a pie. According to Eat Like No One Else, baking peaches softens the peel to the point that they are hardly noticeable. Seriously. The peel breaks down enough to become homogenous with the rest of the pie, leaving you with the benefits of the peach peel without any textural issues.

What is the first thing you do when eating a banana? You open up the peel to reveal the sweet soft fruit within. Whether you are eating the fruit straight, baking banana bread, or making a smoothie, the first step is invariably to peel the banana. That is why it is so surprising that the banana peel is edible and beneficial.

WebMD reports that banana peels contain magnesium, potassium, protein, and vitamins B6 and B12. They also contain plenty of fiber, which makes you feel full and can help fight diseases such as cancer and diabetes. Therefore, bananas — and their peels — are an excellent addition to your diet.

But how do you eat them? Banana peels are tough and don't exactly appear to make an appetizing snack. One easy way to incorporate them into your diet is by blending them into a smoothie. Another way, according to The Great British Baking Show winner Nadiya Hussain, is to incorporate them into savory dishes. In an interview with The New York Times, Hussain says the peels can be cooked, pureed with green chilis and garlic, then sautéed for a tasty side dish. Banana peels can also be used to make vegan bacon and in dishes such as banana peel curry.

While some melons have rinds that are safe to eat, the cantaloupe is one variety that is encased in a rind that should not be consumed. Unlike watermelon, the skin on a cantaloupe is rough and can harbor harmful bacteria and pathogens. The rough skin of the cantaloupe makes it difficult to clean thoroughly and allows bacteria to make a home on it.

According to Food Safety News, cantaloupes carry more bacteria that cause foodborne illnesses than any other produce. Because cantaloupes grow in the ground, pathogens, such as salmonella Panama, in the soil and rainwater become embedded in the rough skin. After being harvested, most fruits and vegetables lack the nutrients and moisture required for bacteria to grow. This is not the case for cantaloupe. Instead, bacteria, such as E.coli, can easily multiply on the melon's surface.

Before slicing a cantaloupe and removing the cantaloupe's rind, it's important to clean the surface thoroughly by scrubbing it with a brush, as noted by Delishably. To prevent the bacteria from spreading into the freshly-cut melon, the fruit should be eaten in short order.

The peel of a lemon is another citrus peel that you should be eating. Lemon peels often appear on cocktail drinks as a discardable garnish, but they are edible and bring plenty of nutritional value.

In a medical review by Wendie Trubow, M.D., she states that lemon peels are high in calcium, which is important for bone health (per MindBodyGreen). Lemon peels also contain polyphenol flavonoids that help lower bad cholesterol and minimize the risk of high blood pressure. Vitamin C is found in the lemon rind as well, and by eating 1 tablespoon of zest, you'll get 9% of the daily recommendation (per Healthline).

While lemon peels can certainly be used as a garnish, there are many other uses for them that are tastier and healthier. Incorporate the citrus rinds into your diet by adding them to tea, candying them, including them in baked goods and recipes, dehydrating them, or adding them to dressings and sauces.

There's one thing of which we are certain: humans love avocados. While the flesh of the fruit — yes, it's a fruit — is creamy and savory, the peel is incredibly tough. However, that is not to say that the peel isn't technically edible. In the very basic sense, it is, as the skin is not poisonous, per Foods Guy. In fact, according to Popular Science, there are some great nutritional benefits found in it. 

The peel of the avocado is rich in flavonoids, antioxidants, and phenols (via Foods Guy). According to the Garvan Institute of Medical Research, it also contains an antioxidant that has been shown to kill breast cancer cells.

There are some creative ways to use the peels so you don't miss out on their health benefits. Prepared Cooks recommends drying them in the oven, then grinding them into a powder that you can add to foods. To make things even easier, Food Guys suggests simply using a high-powered blender and mixing them into a smoothie or dip. 

Why do we make more trouble for ourselves than we need to by peeling vegetables? Many, such as cucumbers, are easier to prepare and better for you with their peels left on rather than removed.

While cucumbers as a whole contain plenty of vitamins and nutrients, the bulk is found in the peel (per Livestrong). As noted by NDTV Food, the rich, deep green color of the cucumber peel shows that it contains antioxidants and nutrients that help power the body and keep it running well. A cuke peel also contains fiber that helps keep the digestive tract clean and running smoothly, as well as protein to help build muscles. By eating a large cucumber with the peel on, you'll get 41% of your daily needs of vitamin K, while removing the skin leaves you with a mere 17% of your daily needs of the vitamin.

The best part is that all of these benefits are available with very little work. Simply clean and cut the cucumber, and it is ready to use. The vegetable tastes great raw, tossed in a salad, and of course, pickled. 

Mangos are juicy and delicious tropical fruits. Their bright orange flesh is slightly firm and appealing, and according to WebMD, the peels contain powerful antioxidants that may help fight and prevent cancer. Additionally, the skin of a mango is rich in triterpenoids and triterpenes, which help fight diabetes.

The peel can be eaten without any preparation other than a thorough rinsing with water. However, they tend to have a leathery texture and an unappealing flavor. To make the peels more edible, they can be dehydrated and crushed into a mix with sugar and spices. For a sweet treat, try boiling the peels in sugar cane syrup to create a mango peel extract for baking.

While mango peels are edible and generally considered harmless, there is one caution when it comes to eating them: They contain urushiol. Urushiol is the same chemical compound found in poison ivy. Those who are sensitive to this compound may have an allergic reaction to the peels, which can result in a rash or breathing difficulties. If you are sensitive to urushiol, you should avoid eating mango peels.