Why don't people eat the cores of apples, the peels of oranges, or the peels of bananas?!
Why don't people eat the cores of apples, the peels of oranges, or the peels of bananas?
Is it that humans can't digest them or humans just don't like the taste or texture of them or what? Why do people eat only certain parts of fruits and not other parts. Why don't people eat every part of fruits?
Answers: It isn't just people. Monkeys don't eat the skin of bananas either, or the cores of apples.
The skins of many fruits, such as bananas, oranges, cantalopes, etc. are a protective shell and nature has developed them to be unappealing to eat or difficult to get through as a defensive mechanism, particularly from insects. These types of fruits are lacking an internal protective shell for the seeds (wild bananas have large, hard seeds mixed into the flesh).
Apples have a soft skin and so the core serves as a protective pod for the seeds. Making them difficult and unappetizing to consume ensures continuation. They wouldn't be so proliferate if animals were enclined to eat the whole fruit. People do eat the peel of citrus fruits, just usually grated into a dish or baked good. The white part, however, is really bitter. I have no desire to eat an apple core or banana peel. Go for it if you feel so inclined. Because they're gross. For instance, orange peels taste bad. Banana peels are chewy.
Unless you're starving, there's no reason to eat the whole fruit. Its like eating a shell of an egg, yeah you can eat the whole thing but why? Try eating an orange peel the come back to us and let us know how it was. Then you question would be answered. You must not eat them or you'd know why.
Just try it, doesn't taste very good. uhhh, i don't know. haha.. well, for the apple core, i eat it but of course not all the time so i can't answer that but as with the banana and orange peels, basically they both don't taste good. although citrus peels are used for garnish or in cooking, they're not primarily intended for eating. They don't taste good and they would be very hard to chew and digest. As far as an apple core goes - the seeds release cyanogenic glycosides which release cyanide when ingested. Cyanide = toxic. So ingesting too many seeds could potentially be harmful.
I believe everyone else already answered for the oranges and bananas. well, it all stems back to our prehistoric ancestors- they only ate the parts of the fruit that their instincts told them were safe. now, millenia later, we don't eat the core of apples, or skin of citrus fruits and banana's because our ancient instincts tell us that its not safe to eat them the way they are- so we eat them while they are disguised within other foods- for example, the skins of fruit may be grated onto a cake. this, our instincts tell us, is a safe way to eat skins.
As for the apple cores, you can or can't eat them, it depends on what type of person you are. I've eaten the core of apples for the past six years, and I'm still here. Survival. We eat certain things because they taste good, an they taste good because they contain certain things that are essential to our survival. If they don't taste good, they probably lack something that is good for our survival. What nutrition is in the flesh of an apple? Sugar. What nutrition is in an apple seed? For us, beats me. Perhaps there is some, but I would doubt it is much. well, i do eat the cores of apples, i use the peels of oranges for either cooking or for the smell alone...taste is to bitter. As for the banana...i guess i never really tried...
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