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Sunday, October 14, 2012

Don't Throw Away that Pineapple Core!

I got a great deal on pineapples a couple weeks ago, and although we couldn't resist eating a couple of them fresh, I dehydrated the rest for our winter snack/toppings store!  I dried all the juicy fleshy stuff in my dehydrator:


But what to do with all those cores?  A year ago I would have thrown them all away, but I have learned since then that sometimes the least "tasty" parts of a fruit or vegetable (or animal) are the most nutritious!  So I researched pineapple cores, and confirmed my suspicion.  It has valuable nutrients, at least one of which is not even found in the fleshy parts!

    • Fiber - for healthy digestion and strong immunities
    • Vitamin C - great for the immune system during cold/flu season
    • Manganese - for proper bone formation and synthesis of fatty acids
    • Copper - helps your body utilize iron and produce melanin
    • Bromelain - a protein enzyme with strong anti-inflammatory properties

Pineapple cores and skins are the best place to find bromelain, in particular.  How could we throw such nutrient-rich treasures away??


So I decided to blend up one of my pineapples completely (minus the skin), along with all the cores of the other six.  I then poured the pulpy mixture onto parchment paper, as though I were making fruit leather, and dehydrated it as well.  (Seven pineapple cores, plus one pineapple's worth of fleshy fruit, took up three trays in my dehydrator).  Twelve hours later, I had a dry, thin "plate" of pineapple!  Sorry I didn't take a picture at this point.  I broke the brittle plate into pieces, and voila...



Pineapple core chips!

They are tangy and delicious, and perfect for the medicine cabinet in case of a sprang or a pulled tendon.  If only they would last til then...


6 comments:

  1. Mmmmmm. Thanks for the tips on the core. I'll have a hard time ever throwing one out again.

    And you win on beautiful photos!

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    Replies
    1. Here's an update on bromelain: http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2012/07/11/bromelain-enzyme-aid-cancer-treatment.aspx

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  2. I always use the cores in smoothies with whatever other fruits and veggies you're using.

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  3. Chips- that's a great idea! I found the same thing out about date stones. If you have a blender that can handle them, they are full of some amazing nutrients if you can blend them with the dates. For example, they can apparently help you get over colds quickly.

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    ReplyDelete