Evaluating the nutritional contents and antioxidant status of fruit peels as an enriched source of functional food

Fruit peels are largely wasted without knowing their nutritional contents. So, there is a dire need to harness functional components for their biological significance. In this study, fruit peel samples were dried in hot air oven and subjected to nutritional profile using different analytical techniques. This study aimed to investigate the antioxidant, proximate composition, amino acids and mineral profiles from 12 peel samples of fruit varieties which were labelled from V1 to V12. Results revealed that crude protein and crude fat had significantly higher (p < 0.05) levels in V12 fruit peels, whereas crude fibre and ash were reported significantly greater(p < 0.05) in V12 and V4 compared with others. The amino acid results showed that cysteine and methionine had greater levels in V6 samples (p < 0.05), whereas aspartic acid + asparagine was greater (p <.05) in V12 samples compared to other samples. The ascorbic acid TPC, TF, TAC and lycopene had higher contents in V2, V11, V3, V5, V4 and V9 than other peel samples (p < 0.05). Additionally, peel samples of V4, V11, V4 and V3 had higher levels of nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, magnesium and manganese (p < 0.05). These results conclude that fruit peels could have ramifications as a sustainable, enriched source of functional foods.