Dr. Kamil Ashraf, Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine, JNMC, A.M.U

618 views

1 likes

You will need to sign in before you can comment or like.        

   The eggplant also known as aubergine, garden egg, guinea squash, melongene, and brinjal, is usually distinguishable by its signature egg-like shape and vibrant purple color. Although the dark purple version of eggplants is best known, they actually come in a variety of shapes and colors - from small and oblong to long and skinny, from shades of purple to white and green. Eggplants are now available in markets throughout the year, but they are at their very best from August through October when they are in season. Eggplants belong to the nightshade family of vegetables, which also includes tomatoes, bell peppers and potatoes. They grow in a manner much like tomatoes, hanging from the vines of a plant that grows several feet in height.
   The ancient ancestors of eggplant grew wild in India and were first cultivated in China in the 5th century B.C. Eggplant was introduced to Africa before the Middle Ages and then into Italy, the country with which it has long been associated, in the 14th century. It subsequently spread throughout Europe and the Middle East and, centuries later, was brought to the Western Hemisphere by European explorers. Today, Italy, Turkey, Egypt, China and Japan are the leading growers of eggplant. Although it has a long and rich history, eggplant did not always hold the revered place in food culture that it does today, especially in European cuisines. As a result of the overly bitter taste of the early varieties, it seems that people also felt that it had a bitter disposition - eggplant held the undeserved and inauspicious reputation of being able to cause insanity, leprosy, itch and cancer oOnly reputation, don't take this seriously, read further on). For centuries after its introduction into Europe, eggplant was used more as a decorative garden plant than as a food. Not until new varieties were developed in the 18th century, did eggplant lose its bitter taste and bitter reputation, and take its now esteemed place in the cuisines of many European countries, including Italy, Greece, Turkey and France.

Health Benifits
In addition to featuring a host of vitamins and minerals, eggplant also contains important phytonutrients many which have antioxidant activity. Phytonutrients contained in eggplant include phenolic compounds such as caffeic and chlorogenic acid, and flavonoids such as nasunin. Nasunin is a potent antioxidant and free radical scavenger that has been shown to protect cell membranes from damage. In animal studies, nasunin has been found to protect the lipids (fats) in brain cell membrane. Plants form such compounds to protect themselves against oxidative stress from exposure to the elements, as well as from infection by bacteria and fungi. The good news concerning eggplant is that the predominant phenolic compound found in all varieties tested is chlorogenic acid, which is one of the most potent free radical scavengers found in plant tissues. Benefits attributed to chlorogenic acid include antimutagenic (anti-cancer), antimicrobial, anti-LDL (bad cholesterol) antiviral activities.

Comments