After eating oranges, most people often throw away the peel. Few people know that orange peels contain many minerals and other nutrients that are beneficial to health. Meanwhile, processing orange peels into a delicious dish is not difficult!

Studies show that there are more than 55 types of flavonoids and more than 170 types of phytonutrients in orange peel along with minerals, vitamins, pectin and fiber. Just snacking on a tablespoon of orange peel (about 6g) will absorb 6 calories, 0.10g of protein, 1.6g of carbohydrates and 0.5g of fiber. 100g of orange peel contains 98 calories, 1.6g of protein, 24g of carbohydrates and 10.5g of fiber… In addition, orange peel contains very little fat, no cholesterol and no sodium.

Orange peel is a rich source of flavonoids – an intermediate metabolite of plants with many important functions for health, disease prevention, especially cancer.

Orange peel is rich in vitamin C and one tablespoon of peel contains about 8.2mg of vitamin C. Other vitamins present in orange peel include thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, vitamin A, folate, vitamin B5 and vitamin B6. Minerals present in orange peel are calcium (10mg) and small amounts of magnesium, iron, phosphorus, potassium, copper, selenium and zinc.

Orange peel – a treasure for health

Benefits of eating orange peel

• Helps lose weight: Orange peel helps lose weight because it is high in fiber and low in calories. Including orange peel in your diet will help reduce your overall daily calorie intake. It also prevents excessive weight gain and prevents the formation of fat tissue.
• Anti-inflammatory: Orange peel has anti-inflammatory properties similar to indomethacin – commonly used to reduce fever, relieve pain and inflammation by inhibiting prostaglandin synthesis.
• Reduce respiratory problems: Research shows that the substances in orange peel are effective in supporting the treatment of asthma. It helps thin phlegm and thus expel it from the lungs and respiratory tract more easily. A large amount of anti-histamine compounds and antioxidants in orange peel help reduce the symptoms of colds, flu, bronchitis and lung cancer. Histamine is a chemical responsible for creating allergic reactions. Therefore, orange peel acts as a potential anti-allergic food; reduces runny nose and sneezing due to allergies. Orange peels contain a compound called beta-cryptoxanthin which has been shown to aid in the treatment of lung cancer.
• Prevents digestive diseases: Orange peels contain a large amount of fiber called insoluble polysaccharides such as tannins, hemi-cellulose and pectin which help prevent constipation. Eating orange peels also prevents heartburn, excess acidity and nausea, vomiting.
• Improves oral health and whitens teeth: You can naturally eliminate bad breath by chewing orange peels instead of gum. Orange peels also help whiten teeth along with improving tooth sensitivity.
• Prevents cancer: According to some studies, orange peels reduce the risk of certain cancers such as breast cancer, colon cancer and skin cancer.
• Improves heart health: PMFs found in orange peels are compounds that have been shown to have beneficial effects on heart health and lower blood pressure, and lower cholesterol (LDL) levels in the blood.
• Boosts immunity: Due to the high levels of vitamin A and vitamin C, eating orange peels helps boost the immune system. Therefore, you will be less susceptible to flu, colds, or coughs.

How to use orange peel in dishes

Orange peel has been proven to be very beneficial for health, so why don’t we take advantage of it! Let’s refer to some ways to turn orange peel into daily favorites.

Before using orange peel, make sure you are using a safe food and wash it thoroughly (with salt water) even if you are using an organic product. There are many ways to consume orange peel such as adding it to recipes for baking, desserts, salads, mixing it with yogurt, sauces, drinks such as tea, smoothies… But the simplest is probably making orange peel jam – a snack that is almost never boring.

Prepare 500g of yellow orange peel, 300g of sugar, 100g of honey, salt. After washing, cut the orange peel into small, long pieces about 1cm thick. Put all the orange peels in a pot, add cold water and boil for about 3-5 minutes then turn off the stove. Then drain the water, this step will help reduce the bitterness of the orange peel.

After boiling the orange peel, continue to soak the orange peel in diluted salt water for 8-10 hours, then wash the orange peel several times with clean water to avoid saltiness. Put the orange peel, sugar, honey in a large bowl, mix well, cover and let the sugar dissolve completely. When the sugar is completely dissolved, put the orange peel marinated in sugar into the pan and cook over low heat. Use chopsticks to stir gently until the sugar is dry and thick, the orange peel turns golden yellow, then turn off the stove. Take out the orange peel jam and arrange it on the oven rack, underneath you place a tray to catch the sugar water flowing from the orange peel and then put it in the oven, dry at 1000C for about 15 – 20 minutes. If you do not have an oven, you can dry the jam in the dry sun or put it in the refrigerator to dry the jam.

The orange peel jam made as above can be stored in a glass jar for later use. On cold days, sipping on sweet, aromatic, spicy orange jam makes you feel warm and refreshed.