Nigerians may be throwing away potentially beneficial compounds every time they peel an orange and discard its skin and white pith, Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Chrisland University, Abeokuta, Ogun State, Prof. Ebenezer Farombi, has warned.

Farombi said researchers had identified potentially beneficial compounds in the skin and whitish portion of oranges and lemons, arguing that Nigerians often consume only the sweet flesh of the fruit while discarding other potentially valuable parts.

Speaking at the Second Annual Research Week of the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN), Farombi recalled his collaboration with scientists at Kanazawa University in Japan, where they isolated and quantified compounds from the skin of oranges and lemons.

“Many of you, when you take the oranges, you only take the sweet part of it. You are only taking sugar, and when you take the sugar, you throw the remaining away, and goats come and consume that,” he said.

Farombi said the skin and white portion beneath the orange peel contained compounds that could be useful and beneficial to humans.

“Look at it from the skin and the whitish portion that you are able to isolate those two compounds, and they are very, very useful and beneficial in the individuals,” he said.

He used the example to highlight the untapped value of everyday indigenous foods and plants, saying research should go beyond generating academic papers to identifying useful compounds and turning scientific knowledge into solutions that benefit society.

Farombi, who has worked on several indigenous plants and foods including bitter kola, red palm oil, turmeric, ginger and bitter leaf, said Nigeria needed to invest more in research that could unlock the economic and health potential of its natural resources.