Often we never think twice before tossing certain food remnants into the dustbin. One of them is the banana peels.
But do you know that this food waste that we discard can convert ordinary cookies made from refined flour into healthier cookies.
A study in ACS Food Science and Technology has shown that banana peel flour added to cookies before baking makes it into a healthier version.
Refined food cookies: how to make it healthier?
Cookies are popular worldwide. But they have sugars and refined flour. Both of these are unhealthy for the body. They can lead to body inflammation and chronic diseases.
The risk of gut, heart and pancreatic diseases rises and it can raise the bad cholesterol in the blood. Attempts to make popular foods such as cookies healthy are ongoing.
Banana peel is a food waste with lots of good uses (Source: Healthline)In the same direction, researchers from Aligarh Muslim University made flour out of banana peels. They added this to the cookie batter before baking the cookies.
The resulting cookies satisfied those who ate them more than the regular cookies. These cookies also had more fiber, potassium, magnesium, and antioxidants compared to the ones not containing these banana peel flour.
Dietitian Amanda Sauceda states:
“If I had a dehydrator, I’d be all over this and making some cookies to test this out myself,”
“Using banana peel flour could be a nice option for those who want to add a little extra nutrition to their cookies while still maintaining cookie quality.”
The benefits of banana peels
Amanda adds:
“we often overlook the power peels of fruits and veggies have and bananas are no different.”
She continued:
“banana peels have fiber and fiber helps keep you full, which is why this flour could be more satisfying,”
The potassium in banana peels is high and this helps in heart and arterial health. It also assists in nerve function and conduction.
Banana peel flour (Source: Pinterest)If one does not use them for cookie making, one can use them as homemade fertilizer. Their high potassium content can help the plants to grow well.
Steps to add banana peels to make healthier cookies
Firstly, one should wash and clean the banana skin well under large amounts of water. Normally, we do not wash the banana before eating it. But to use the banana peel, this step is vital.
Dehydrate or dry the peels and ground them into flour. And replace 7.5 to 15% of the cookie flour with banana peel flour. By doing so, the physical characteristics and taste do not alter much.
The scientists found that those who had the novel cookies liked it and accepted it favorably. The total phenolic content and antioxidant properties of the new cookies were better.
The cookie’s hardness increased with the addition of the banana peel flour.
Healthier cookies are made from refined flour with added banana peel flour (Source: Mint lounge)Also, read Plant parts that are healthy and nutritious and can be eaten!
Therefore, one can use the food waste and put it to good use. Banana peels can be floured and used in the baking of foods to enrich them and make them healthier.