This easy life hack will make peeling oranges a breeze

They may be packed full of vitamin C, but oranges can be a real pain to peel. Photo / 123rf

Sweet, juicy and packed full of vitamin C and antioxidants, oranges are the perfect healthy snack to eat on the go.

But the fruit can be fiddly to peel, and you can easily end up with pith under your fingernails and a pile of messy shavings to clean up.

There is a much easier way to peel your orange though, which will make you realise you've been doing it the wrong way all your life, according to the Daily Mail.

A 20 to 30-second blast in the microwave will loosen an orange's skin without cooking it, making it much easier to remove, according to Wiki How.

Sick of struggling to peel your mandarins and oranges? Photo / 123rf

Just be careful when removing the orange from the appliance as the skin may be very hot.

Leave for about a minute to cool down before eating.

The fruit mustn't be microwaved for too long, as orange peel is flammable and the flesh will start to cook.

If you don't have a microwave, however, there are several other life hacks that show you how to peel an orange more easily.

With just three slices of a knife, one method will reduce juice loss and leave you with no messy peel shavings.

Simply cut off the top and bottom of the orange, before cutting through the orange on one side, stopping when you reach the centre of the fruit. Do not cut all the way through.

Then, just pull apart the two sides of the orange until all the segments are exposed.

There's also a clever trick you can try with just a tablespoon.

Score a circle with the blunt end of a spoon around the perimeter of the orange. Then use the spoon to dig in deeper, cutting the skin away from the flesh of the orange without cutting into the fruit.

With one swift twist, both halves of the orange skin should come off easily, leaving you with the peeled fruit.

via GIPHY