When moving around major streets in Nigeria, the garden egg or eggplant is a fruit you must see, either you are traveling or you are just taking a walk. This fruit has been one of the traditional fruit in the country especially the eastern part of Nigeria, it is used for major ceremonies to entertain guests and sometimes offer prayers. The majority of this plant is grown in the northern region of the country where farming is the major means of lively hood.
The garden egg has also become a very good source of income for petty traders as it is easy to start a garden egg business with as small as 5000 nairas in Nigeria. This fruit is very important in the day to day life of Nigerians as it is used for the preparation of different delicacies like the garden egg stew for eating boiled yam, plantain, or the garden egg soup for eating Eba or Fufu which are the major foods in Nigeria.
The nutritional benefit of garden eggIf you have not been a fan of the amazing fruit then you should take the garden egg or eggplant serious this year 2019, the garden egg comes with the amazing nutritional benefit that will keep you healthy, fresh and increase life expectancy.
Nutritional component of garden egg
The garden egg contains both macronutrient and micronutrients
The major macronutrients in garden eggs are
- Water
- Â Carbohydrate
- Proteins
     The plant also contains a hand full of micronutrients
- Â Vitamins(B1,B6,and E) Â Â Â
      Minerals (iron, magnesium, calcium, potassium, and copper)
Phytonutrients in the garden egg
-  Chlorogenic acid  Â
- Â Nasunin
Health benefit of garden egg
Improve vision: due to the presence of a minute amount of nicotinoid alkaloids which is a substance found in its cream-colored flesh and also gives its bitter taste garden egg (nicotinoid alkaloids has been found to improve vision)
Weight loss: the high fiber content of garden egg have been found to be very useful in weight loss, the fiber helps to fill the stomach and also reduce intestinal emptying time, in this case, other food that contains a high amount of calories will digest slowly. Garden egg is well recommended for people who want to lose weight.
Diabetic patient: garden egg can also help diabetic patient due to its fiber contents, it can fill the stomach and also reduces the time for food to move from one section of the intestine to the other this is also known as emptying time, this helps the patient to stay away from high carbohydrate food for some time, in this regards to blood sugar is drastically reduced.
Reduce cholesterol: the fiber contents of the garden egg helps to reduce cholesterol as this will prevent major diseases such as atherosclerosis and heart disease.
Pregnancy: during pregnancy, the babies are taking vital micronutrients from the mother(vitamins and minerals) taking a garden egg will help to balance that nutrient as this will helps the mother and child to be healthy.
