Health Benefits
BEFORE YOU THROW AWAY THOSE MANDARIN RINDS...
Did you know an Owari mandarin can be eaten like an apple? Just munch down on and go for it. As might be expected there may be a slightly bitter taste. However that is not always true. Occasionally the rind is sweet.
While chewing on that mandarin you will get a dose of Synephrene. This ingredient has the effect of stopping a case of the sniffles not to mention other qualities. USDA conducted a study of Placer Grown Mandarins and found they have 6 to 8 times more Synephrene than any other mandarin tested. Personal experience has proven that they do indeed stop the sniffles AND appear to fend off colds.
There are also other benefits to mandarin rinds. Traditional Chinese medicine as well as Japanese medicine have used mandarin rinds in various concoctions for thousands of years. They refer to the mandarin rind as Chenpi. The date of a Japanese study on the use of mandarin rinds as a medicine is not available to me but it was relatively recent. A synopsis of that test conducted in Japan is. Those test results indicated that mandarin rinds when fed to mice with MS appeared to have stopped the progression of the disease. We are unaware if any further studies on this subject have been undertaken.
The rinds used by the Chinese come from mandarins grown only in one area of China. The fruit is so bitter it is thrown away and the rind retained. The older that rind the more expensive it is.
Using this study as a basis Dr. Andrew Tait of Canada developed a product from the mandarin rinds. You can learn much more on his website at: https://msplus.ca/en/
Below is a cut and paste message from Dr Tait regarding mandarin rinds from Anns Orchard and mandarins rinds from china that he uses in his health products:
By the way, I think I measured that your samples of mandarin peel were the highest in polyphenol content. Be that as it may, it’s the Xinhui (China) peels that have a well-deserved reputation for being the best, as they have 20X higher polymethoxylated flavones (i.e. bioflavonoids) compared to anywhere else (California and other regions of China we looked at) I think I sent you the papers we published, but here they are again attached and links below:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0308814616313991?via%3Dihub
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0278691517301783?via%3Dihub
NORTHWEST EDIBLE LIFE: HOW TO DRY AND USE MANDARIN PEELS
By Erica Strauss Printed permission
From what we’ve found by trial and error the internet and word of mouth there appears to be no limit to how Chenpi can be used.
Erica Strauss http://.nwedible.com/2011/12/how-to-dry-and-use-mandarin-orange.html produced an article for Northwest Edible Life on how to dry and use Chenpi. She included some recipes for cooking with Chen-pi as well as good method for drying them. The photos she included might make you hungry.
Appreciating the mighty mandarin peel herself is the well known herbalist Maki McBride. In Dec 2005 Capay Organic boasted an article by Kami that named Chenpi the herb of the month. Kami pointed out that the Chinese and Japanese have been using Chenpi for thousands of years as a medicinal herb, tonics and culinary dishes.
In this article by Kami McBride does an excellent synopsis of some of the uses for mandarin peels and why they should not be thrown away. One of her suggested uses for the mandarin peel is a mandarin peel paste.
Before continuing we need to emphasis a point. Never ever consume the peel of any fruit until after it has been thoroughly washed. At Ann's Orchard we dropped the organic certification but continue going by organic standards. Still our fruit should be washed as well. Once it leaves our barn we have no control over where it goes or what happens to it. If there is any contamination on them it was not put there intentionally at Ann's Orchard. The only spray they felt on their delicate skins as they grew up would be an OMRI approved hydrolyzed fish oil used to apply nitrogen.
