HEALTH BENEFITS OF GARDEN EGG

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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”