As summer temperatures start to heat up, there's no better time to indulge in a refreshing snack to cool down. And the perfect fruit for this occasion is, of course, the juicy, delicious pomegranate.

But what do you do when you're done with the succulent seeds? Do you just throw away the tough, inedible peels? Of course not - especially if you're an advocate of reducing one's waste and being mindful of one's consumption.

Just ask plant-based chef Carleigh Bodrug, who posts delicious and mindful recipes to her Instagram account @plantyou.

Recently, the cook and author stunned social media with her zero-waste trick on how you can reuse the hardy peels that are usually just chucked into the rubbish after you’ve drained the yummy seeds.

In her now-viral post on Instagram, she revealed how she dehydrates the peels and turns them into powder before using it for different purposes.

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'Stop throwing out those pomegranate peels! Instead, place those peels on a baking sheet and dehydrate in the oven until they are completely dry,' she says in the video.

Carleigh was then seen adding the dried pomegranate peels into a blender before grinding it into a fine powder.

She explains: 'The skins are actually loaded with more antioxidants and vitamins than the seeds.'

Carleigh also suggests using the powder to make pomegranate tea.

'With the pomegranate skin powder, you can make an antioxidant-rich tea by placing it in a coffee filter and pouring boiling water over top,' she recommends.

It was said that Arabic cultures have long been aware ofthis drink, which is made by mixing dried pomegranate peels with honey. They recommend having half a teaspoon of the mixture every morning before breakfast for 40 days.
While Arabic people do not claim any health benefits from the tea, pomegranates are considered one of the sacred fruits in the Qu’ran.

You can make tea using pomegranate peels. All you need to do is to simply dry them out, cut them into small pieces, and mix them with other spices for an incredibly tasty tea. Credit: Pexels/Pixabay.

You might also want to keep the peels after they're dried out, as they could make for some pretty cool decorations. Many online users described them as looking like 'dried cranberries'.

The plant-based chef suggests: 'Or you can dilute the powder with water to create a perfect body exfoliant or face mask.'

However, she warned against using the powder as a face exfoliant because 'the powder is too grainy so it will not be ideal'.

The post quickly gained traction on Instagram, amassing over 620,000 likes, and plenty of comments from those amazed by her ingenious advice.

One user wrote: 'Genius!'

'Wait what? This is amazing!' another added.

However, before you get started on making your own pomegranate peel tea, we recommend doing a quick background check on the fruit....

Some users commented that they were concerned about the pesticides that were used on the fruit, recommending to opt for organic to ensure that the peels are free of harmful chemicals.

One person asked: 'I would be concerned about the pesticides that were used on the fruit...do you buy organic fruit when you do this?'

Many others jumped into Carleigh's defence and shared their knowledge about purchasing fruits that are 'not organic'.

One user shared: 'I tell you why. Not all fruits need pesticides. Organic marketing strategies give people the sense that all plants are full of chemicals if they are not organic. Well, not true.'

'They are super expensive and the number of chemicals they have might also come from rain. So pomegranate is one of those plants that do not attract too many insects.'

If you'd like to give this a try, then make sure you also wash the fruit thoroughly in a baking soda mixture and then once in water as suggested by another commenter.

'Doing this could reduce 96 per cent of the pesticides used on the fruit,' one person claimed, citing a study from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Others claimed that drying the peels reduces the antioxidants found in them.

One comment read: 'This isn’t really true. By drying pomegranate skins you are losing the antioxidants found naturally among them. In fact, after being dried and blended into a powder, this tea would probably hold no mineral or antioxidant content.'

'Similarly, a study found that even freezing the peels decreases the antioxidant value by 50% and more so over time. I'm citing a research published: PMID: 24493900.'

Key Takeaways

• Cookbook author and plant-based chef Carleigh Bodrug has shared on social media a zero-waste tip on how you can reuse pomegranate peels by dehydrating them and grinding them into a powder.
• Dehydrating and crushing pomegranate peels into a powder makes for a rich antioxidant tea, body exfoliant, or face mask.
• However, not all were convinced of the tip, with some citing potential pesticide residue and loss of antioxidants due to the dehydration processing.
• An additional tip shared in the comments was to wash your produce in a mixture of baking soda and water to remove 96 per cent of any pesticide residue.

So what’s the verdict? Will you be trying this tip? Better yet, do you have a ‘zero-waste’ tip that has helped you reduce your waste? Share it in the comment below!

 

[RTS]

Drying may cause lose of antioxidants, but the mineral content would be unaffected.