(Health Benefits Of Eggplants) You may be deceived by the look or the taste of veggies and end up categorizing them wrongfully as fruits or vegetable. Did you know, that the Eggplants cooking in your homes is not a vegetable but fruit? Believe that? You read that right. It is called Eggplant in North America, Australia, New Zealand and Brinjal in South Africa and South Asia. Many such seed plants like capsicum, pumpkin, olive, Avacado, cucumber, pepper which are usually treated as vegetables are actually fruits!
‘Fruits’ are referred as ‘flowering plants having seeds botanically. These edible reproductive bodies are sweet and enjoyed as desserts like melon and berries.
“From eggplants, commonly seasoned and served as vegetables, to olives with their oily texture and salty flavor, unexpected fruits are all around us.”
But most often, people mistakenly call food items which are sweet as “fruit” and those which need some cooking time before it is palatable “vegetables”.
As the eggplant is somewhat bitter, it has to be cooked with some salt to remove its bitterness. This glossy fruit is low in fat and cholesterol. Smaller, immature eggplants are the best. Their seeds are softer, and they are less likely to be bitter. As they are perishable, they get bitter with age. They should have firm, taut, smooth and shiny skins. Large, over sized eggplants, may be tough, seedy and bitter. It belongs to nightshade family and considered as a berry.
Known for its unique texture and flavor, this deep purple and glossy vegetable is an excellent source of nutrients vitamins and minerals and considered as a brain food.
According to food rating system, it is an excellent source of nutrition with,
- 3% of potassium and vitamin K,
- 4% of vitamin B,
- 7% of copper and
- 10% of fiber including manganese, folate
Health benefits of eggplants which you can’t ignore:
- It promotes digestive health. Want to be away from stomach related problems? Then have an eggplant in your diet.
- It helps in fighting cancer.
- Eggplants manage type-2 Diabetes, high blood pressure, and cholesterol levels.
- It helps improve skin quality and promote immune system.
“Brain food – Eggplant”
‘Nausin’, one of the phenolic compound in brinjals help to protect the brain cell membrane and receive instructions from messenger molecule which tells us, what activities it should perform. The phenolic compounds in them function as antioxidants which protect them from infections.
Hope this information was helpful. Stay tuned for more such facts!
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