Mangosteen peel sold at VND100,000

Mangosteen is a fruit mostly grown in the south and favored by people throughout the country. In general, people throw mangosteen peels away as they think they are useless. But in fact, they are very good for human health.

Tran Thuc in Ha Dong district in Hanoi confirmed that she used dried mangosteen peels to treat her younger brother who had diarrhea last week. 

“The mangosteen was dried last year after I read an article about its uses. But I did not think it would be useful until my younger brother used it. It was really amazing,” she said.

Studies show that mangosteen peels have many uses. They can be used to cure diarrhea, dysentery, bad breath, irregular menstruation, freckles, and reduce cholesterol in the blood. However, the diseases need different formulas. Particularly, only dried peels, not fresh, can be used. 

On online markets, the peel is offered at VND95,000 per kilogram.

Cocoa pods used to produce liquor

In cocoa growing areas of Vietnam, after harvesting, cocoa beans are split for processing, while a small part of the pods are dried and burnt. The remaining pods and flesh are thrown into rivers or tree roots for natural decomposition, which causes environmental pollution.

However, Trong Duc Cocoa Company in Dong Nai doesn’t do this. It processes cocoa pods into pectin, a type of fiber used in food production. In addition, the company has two liquor product lines made of cocoa pods and flesh, favored by many people. 

Making firewood for export from rice husks

Rice husks, which were useless for farmers previously, turns out to be a ‘hot’ product as it can be pressed into firewood by enterprises in Dong Thap and An Giang.

A company in Dong Thap presses rice husks into bullets and sells them at VND1,000 per kilogram. Rice husk firewood is favored in many countries as it does not pollute the environment and produces little smoke.

Food wrap made of dragon fruit peel 

Truong Thi Cam Trang, PhD, from the HCM City National University, can create bio-pectin film to wrap food from dragon fruit peel. Dragon fruit peels contain a large amount of pectin (19-33 percent) higher than orange and tangerine peels. To fully collect the volume of pectin after extraction, the team cut dragon fruit peels into small pieces and dries for 36 hours at a temperature of 60oC.

Hanh Nguyen