In orange cultivation’s earliest days, its peels were more important and useful than the fruit that it protected, which were often bitter. Frequently, the extracted essential oils from the orange peels were used for treatment for indigestion and other illnesses.
During the middle ages, cooks preferably used dried orange peels as flavourings rather than serve the fruit or the juice.
It was only until sweet oranges were presented in Spain and Italy, that the rest of the fruit got any recognition. Even at the present, there are probably more uses for orange peels and its oil contents than there are for the rest of the fruit.
Until today, orange peels are still being used as dried seasoning. With the use of a particular kitchen grater called a zester, orange peel cab be grazed. The zester only removes the thin upper layer and not the lighter-coloured pith of the orange peel. The scrapping action then makes a pile of zest that is left overnight to dry, after which, it will be stored in an airtight bottle for herbs. This zest from orange peels is often used to enrich flavours in desserts, sauces, gravies, and even some meat dishes as well. Additionally, dried orange peels can be used as garnishing.
Orange peels can be made into candies or food accent too by boiling it in sugar water until they become almost translucent. Once it’s placed in a food dehydrator or allowed to dry, the candied peels can then be taken as a snack or be combined with other dried fruits as a unique salad. There are different recipes for candied orange peels available online or from recipe books but over-all, they include the whole peel with several stages of drying and boiling sessions.
Surprisingly, there are a lot of uses for orange peel even outside the kitchen. One remarkable use for dried orange peel is for tinder for fires. Indeed, the oils in the peels are flammable. However, they burn slower and steadier than the usual kindling materials like newspapers. As they burn, they emit a nicer odour so this is beneficial. If you have a fireplace, then it will be useful to put a heat resistant container near it for a collection point for orange peel.
You can also make use of orange peel as air freshener. All you have to do is combine them with some lemon peel, cinnamon sticks and flower petals and put them in a boiling pit of water. The air will become more aromatic when the steam leaves the potpourri. Commercial air fresheners often has orange oil, that are extracted from orange peels, as an ingredient and so does commercial furniture polishes. Furthermore, dried orange peels stored in a cheesecloth bag reduced musty odours when kept in closets.
These essential oils are also used as insect repellent. As experts suggest, you can puree orange peels and pour them directly over anthills and their favoured paths to discourage them from entering your homes. In general, insects don’t like the scent of orange oil so rubbing orange peel directly to the skin is also helpful in repelling mosquitoes.
However, small insects are not the only animals that get affected by the smell of orange peel. There are experts who suggest that mixing ground coffee and dried orange peel will prevent cats from using your yard as a litter box. Cats and Dog are territorial animals. They use scent signals to familiarize themselves. Their usual litter box signals are overridden by the overpowering scent of the coffee and orange peel mixture.
There are so many ways to use the ingredients that can be found in orange peels. One very promising use includes a combination of orange peel and carbon dioxide to make a kind of plastic. Aside from these, studies are still ongoing that involves citrus plants and their incredible chemical structure.
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