Peel, also known as rind or skin, is the outer protective layer of a fruit

Fruit

In broad terms, a fruit is a structure of a plant that contains its seeds.The term has different meanings dependent on context. In non-technical usage, such as food preparation, fruit normally means the fleshy seed-associated structures of certain plants that are sweet and edible in the raw state,...

 or vegetable

Vegetable

The noun vegetable usually means an edible plant or part of a plant other than a sweet fruit or seed. This typically means the leaf, stem, or root of a plant....

 which could be peeled off. The rind is usually the botanical

Botany

Botany, plant science, or plant biology is a branch of biology that involves the scientific study of plant life. Traditionally, botany also included the study of fungi, algae and viruses...

 exocarp, but the term exocarp does also include the hard cases of nuts

Nut (fruit)

A nut is a hard-shelled fruit of some plants having an indehiscent seed. While a wide variety of dried seeds and fruits are called nuts in English, only a certain number of them are considered by biologists to be true nuts...

, which are not named peels since they are not peeled off by hand or peeler, but rather shells because of their hardness.

A fruit with a thick peel, such as a citrus

Citrus

Citrus is a common term and genus of flowering plants in the rue family, Rutaceae. Citrus is believed to have originated in the part of Southeast Asia bordered by Northeastern India, Myanmar and the Yunnan province of China...

 fruit, is called a hesperidium

Hesperidium

A hesperidium is a modified fruit with a tough, leathery rind. The peel contains volatile oil glands in pits. The fleshy interior is composed of separate sections, called carpels, filled with fluid-filled vesicles that are actually specialized hair cells.The outer ovary wall becomes the thick...

. In hesperidiums, the inner layer (also called albedo or, among non-botanists, pith) is peeled off together with the outer layer (also called zest), and together they are called the peel. The zest and albedo, respectively, are the exocarp and the mesocarp. The juicy layer inside the peel (containing the seeds) is the endocarp.

Uses

Depending on the thickness and taste, fruit peel is sometimes eaten as part of the fruit, such as with apple

Apple

The apple is the pomaceous fruit of the apple tree, species Malus domestica in the rose family . It is one of the most widely cultivated tree fruits, and the most widely known of the many members of genus Malus that are used by humans. Apple grow on small, deciduous trees that blossom in the spring...

s. In some cases the peel is unpleasant or inedible, in which case it is removed and discarded, such as with banana

Banana

Banana is the common name for herbaceous plants of the genus Musa and for the fruit they produce. Bananas come in a variety of sizes and colors when ripe, including yellow, purple, and red....

s or grapefruit

Grapefruit

The grapefruit , is a subtropical citrus tree known for its sour fruit, an 18th-century hybrid first bred in Barbados. When found, it was named the "forbidden fruit"; it has also been misidentified with the pomelo or shaddock , one of the parents of this hybrid, the other being sweet orange The...

s.

The peel of some fruits — for example, pomegranates — is high in tannin

Tannin

A tannin is an astringent, bitter plant polyphenolic compound that binds to and precipitates proteins and various other organic compounds including amino acids and alkaloids.The term tannin refers to the use of...

s and other polyphenol

Polyphenol

Polyphenols are a structural class of natural, synthetic, and semisynthetic organic chemicals characterized by the presence of large multiples of phenol structural units...

s, and is employed in the production of dye

Dye

A dye is a colored substance that has an affinity to the substrate to which it is being applied. The dye is generally applied in an aqueous solution, and requires a mordant to improve the fastness of the dye on the fiber....

s.

The peel of citrus fruits is bitter and generally not eaten raw, but may be used in cooking, e.g. chenpi

Chenpi

Chenpi or chen pi is sun-dried tangerine peel used as a traditional seasoning in Chinese cooking and traditional medicine. They are aged by storing them dry...

. The outermost, colored part of the peel is called the zest

Zest (ingredient)

Zest is a food ingredient that is prepared by scraping or cutting from the outer, colorful skin of citrus fruits such as lemon, orange, citron, and lime. Zest is used to add flavor to foods....

, which can be scraped off and used for its tangy flavor. The fleshy white part of the peel, bitter when raw in most species, is used as succade

Succade

Succade is the candied peel of any of the citrus species, especially from the citron or Citrus medica which is distinct with its extra thick peel; in addition, the taste of the inner rind of the citron is less bitter than those of the other citrus...

 or is prepared with sugar

Sugar

Sugar is a class of edible crystalline carbohydrates, mainly sucrose, lactose, and fructose, characterized by a sweet flavor.Sucrose in its refined form primarily comes from sugar cane and sugar beet...

 to make marmalade

Marmalade

Marmalade is a fruit preserve made from the juice and peel of citrus fruits, boiled with sugar and water. The benchmark citrus fruit for marmalade production in Britain is the "Seville orange" from Spain, Citrus aurantium var...

 or fruit soup.

See also

• Fruit anatomy
  Fruit anatomy
  Fruit anatomy is the internal structure of fruit, the mature ovary or ovaries from one or more flowers. In fleshy fruits, the outer and often edible layer is the pericarp, which is the tissue that develops from the ovary wall of the flower and surrounds the seeds. Some edible "vegetables" such as...
  
  , describing the botanical terms of fruit and skin layers.
• Peeler
  Peeler
  A peeler is a metal blade attached to a wooden, metal or plastic handle that is used to remove the outer skin or peel thus peeling certain vegetables, frequently potatoes, and fruits such as apples, pears, et cetera.There are three main varieties, the Lancashire design involving the blade as an...