Information on the composition of Brazilian foods is scant, mainly of Northeastern origin. Still, the ignorance of the nutritious principles of the foods, as well as improper use, cause the waste of tons of alimentary resources. With the objective of motivating the reuse of foods and offering a nutritious alternative of diet at a low cost, the peels of some fruits were analyzed, which are usually discarded. In the present work, it was determined the centesimal composition and 7 mineral elements with nutritious importance (Ca, Cu, Fe, K, Mg, Na, Zn) in 7 different types from peels of fruits: avocado, pineapple, banana, papaya, passion fruit, melon and tangerine, cultivated in Rio Grande do Norte State. The chemical analyses showed that the peels of the fruits present, in general, larger content of nutrients than the respective edible parts verified in the literature. This way, it can be considered that the peels of the analyzed fruits can be used as alternative source of food or as ingredients as to obtain processed preparations.
centesimal composition; minerals; peels of fruits
