Every time you peel a banana and throw away the peel, you're throwing away a delicious, nutritious snack, scientists say.

A recent study found that if banana peels are blanched, dried and ground into flour, they can be used to make baked goods that taste just as good, if not better, than wheat-based products. Science alert.

Not only is it perfectly safe, but scientists have also shown that it's actually good for you.

When their experimental products were taste-tested, consumers reported being satisfied with the taste.

The study found that you can get enough fiber, magnesium, potassium and antioxidant compounds.

On the other hand, adding too much banana peel flour resulted in the cookies made in the study being slightly brown and hard, probably from all the extra fiber. But when made with flour containing 7,5 percent banana peel, the texture of the cookies was much better.

As a bonus, it can stay on the shelf for three months at room temperature.

While the study only looked at the consequences of adding banana peels to baked cookies, the results show that using banana peel flour in breads, cakes and pastas is also worth considering.

Last year, for example, a study on banana peel cake found that the fruit's yellow skin imparts natural color to the baked product as well as nutrients.

Meanwhile, a 2016 study found that replacing up to 10 percent of wheat flour with banana peel flour can enrich baked bread with higher protein, carbohydrate and fat content.

Eating the peel of this fruit is not only a healthy option, but can also help reduce food waste. About 40 percent of a banana's weight is in its peel, and mostly this peel, full of nutrients, is simply thrown away.

Of course, banana peels are pretty nutritionally useless when raw. But if prepared correctly, they can really enhance the taste of food. They can even extend the shelf life of some products because the peels have antioxidant and antimicrobial properties.

The same goes for other fruit peels, such as mango peel, which has also been found to boost the antioxidant properties of cakes and enhance their taste.

So the next time you peel a banana, consider keeping the peel. Your stomach may thank you for it.