While some people eat it raw, some eat it cooked (in the form of sauce) while others make salad from it. The forms of eating the garden egg seems endless in our Nigerian society.

The garden egg plant apart from being a source of vegetable, has numerous health benefits which are essential for the overall development of the human body and it’s acceptability cuts across religious, tribal, cultural and ethnic groups in Nigeria, hence the wide usage of the garden egg plant.

Garden egg has a lot of health benefits which most people don’t know, garden egg is a type of fruit, and as we all know, fruits like garden eggs are very good for our body, but most people are unaware of the benefit they can derive from it. Garden egg among other fruits is beneficial and nourishing to the body.

This natural fruit is rich in vitamin. Garden egg provides the body with both soluble vitamin and water soluble vitamins; they are rich in thiamin (vitamin B1) required for normal growth and proper functioning of the heart and Nervous system, Niacin (vitamin B6) needed for cellular respiration.

More so, Garden egg is one of the anti cancer fruit which has been helping, for over decades, to fight against cancer and other horrible diseases; it is not a must for you to develop cancer, before you start looking for remedy, hence the saying ‘prevention is better than cure.

In Most African countries, this fruit is a highly valued delicacy and constituent of the African food. It also represents fertility and blessing and thus, not common to find it served during wedding ceremonies in some communities across the African continent. No wonder, the Igbo Community in Nigeria can hardly do without eating garden eggs because of the health benefits derived from it.

Botanically called Solanum Melongena, garden egg is an economic flowering plant belonging to the family solanaceae and widely distributed throughout the temperate and tropical regions. Members are mostly herbaceous plants, and the fruit is berry and the seeds have large endosperm and are grown mainly for food and medicinal purposes.

According to Dr. Ndubuisi Nwakakwa, Deputy Provost Graduate Administration,
Federal Collage of Complimentary and Alternative Medicine, Ikosi, Ketu, Lagos and physician/consultant Acupuncturist at Green leaves clinic and Acupuncture center, Ilasamaja, Lagos, “A high level of blood cholesterol level, more particularly low-density Tipoprotein cholesterol, is a primary risk factor for cardiovascular diseases, such as stroke and heart disease and garden egg has the power of reducing these risks

”. According to him “when compared to apples and oats, garden egg plant is more helpful for reducing cholesterol.” It also contains raw form is calories per 100g but this rises when dried.

When cooked in oil, it contains more than 300 calories due to absorption of extra fat.” In addition, he stated that “Even though garden egg is generally said not to contain huge amount of protein and other nutrients, it is low in sodium and very rich in high dietary fibre, it is also high in potassium, a necessary salt that helps in maintaining the function of the heart and regulates blood pressure. Speaking further the acupuncturist said that garden egg is also rich in some nutrients “Being a member of vegetable family, it contains nutrients that include beta carotene, vitamins B6 E and foliate, calcium, iron and magnesium fibre.”

The benefits of garden egg to the human body are numerous and some of them as postulated by Dr. Nwakakwa are good for sight, as it has positive effects on visual functions, it is also excellent for weight reduction. “It consumption may be of great benefits to glaucoma patients’ he opined.

A study conducted by some experts, S. A. Igwe, Dora Akunyili and C. Ogbogu, Published in the 2003 issue of the journal of Ethno pharmacology on “Effects of Garden Egg on some visual functions of visually active Igbos of Nigeria” found that eating plenty of garden egg can help lower eye pressure in persons with glaucoma.

For weight reduction, “this is the perfect recipe for achieving weight loss within a short period of time because it is very low in calorie content, and that is why experts are encouraging people that want to lose weight to eat more of the fresh form, just as they say people that are told to protect their heart against cholesterol effects should make it their delight” said Nwakakwa.

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