Eggplant (lat. Solánum melongéna) refers to perennial herbaceous plants of the genus Bleeding. His homeland is India, Asia, and the Middle East. In the wild, the fruit has a purple color and still grows in India, is found in Burma. A similar plant with small fruits is in China. As a food culture known for a long time. Alexander of Macedon and his army met his gustatory qualities during the Persian-Indian campaign, 331-325 BC. Cultivated in Europe, as a separate culture, began only in the nineteenth century. But already in such a short time a large number of varieties appeared, differing both in the shape of the fruit and in its color.
Did you know? Eggplant (fruit) is a berry. Grow a plant stem can up to 1.5 meters.
Berry weight ranges from 30 g to 2 kg. Forms are also full of diversity: oblong, pear-shaped, spherical, ovoid. Color can be white, yellow, violet of various shades up to black, motley. 
Calorie and composition of the product
Eggplant is a dietary product. The fat content is low - 0.1-0.4%, sugar in the range of 2.8-4.6%, proteins - from 0.6 to 1.4%. Fruits contain up to 19% asprobic acid, as well as nicotinic acid, riboflavin, carotene, thianin and solanine-M (it gives an unpleasant bitter taste). There are tannins, a large amount of fiber, hemicellulose. Of the trace elements - phosphorus, calcium, potassium, magnesium, copper, cobalt, iron, etc.
Important! Beware overeat stewed eggplant. This can lead to obesity.According to nutritional value, raw eggplant contains 24 kcal, boiled - 33 kcal, stewed meat becomes very nutritious - as much as 189 kcal.
Beneficial features
Eggplant has great health benefits. First of all, it is a diet product. A large amount of fiber, pectin and other substances that are poorly absorbed by the human digestive system, but clean it well, contribute to the removal of excess cholesterol from the body. When using this product, the level of cholesterol in the blood is sometimes reduced to 40%. Gentle fiber regulates acid-base balance. Low fat and cholesterol excretion from the body make healthy food for people suffering from vascular diseases.
Read also about other plants that lower cholesterol or remove it from the body: sleep, Japanese quince, tomatoes, blueberries, hibiscus, cloudberry, dogrose, royal jelly, mountain ash red, chokeberry, purslane; plum, hibiscus, black raspberry, apple varieties Gloucester, pumpkin, squash.Warn atherosclerosis, coronary heart disease, gallstone and other diseases, the cause of which lies in an excess of cholesterol. Due to the high content of copper, the berries are useful for anemia. They contribute to blood formation, which makes them desirable for pregnant women.
The fruit is useful for older people suffering from edema, cardiovascular diseases. Potassium in eggplant stimulates the heart, removing fluid from the body. This property is beneficial in the treatment of kidney disease, gout.
The presence of copper and iron contributes to an increase in blood levels of hemoglobin. Improves complexion and skin.
Did you know? Due to the high content of nicotinic acid (vitamin PP), eggplant is useful for those who want to overcome smoking. Nicotinic acid in the berries helps the body to cope with nicotine addiction.The balanced ratio of vitamins and trace elements suggests that the benefits of eggplant for the body is obvious.
Disease treatment
The benefits of eggplants for humans are not limited to eating as food. It helps in the treatment of atherosclerosis, anemia, diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, gout, kidney, edema. In addition to eating toasted or stewed, in case of problems with the removal of bile and the gastrointestinal tract, traditional medicine recommends its juice. 
Did you know? The most delicious and healing berries are blue-black skinned. Such fruits are narrow and oblong, they have few seeds.
Drinking juice
The recipe is simple. Young fruits are peeled, cut into small pieces and squeeze the juice. Better to use a juicer. If you have problems with bile secretion - take a ripe fruit, cut off the peel, cut into small slices and pour boiling water. Hold for about ten minutes until it bursts out, then put it in a water bath. Boil for thirty minutes and strain. Infusion drink daily thirty minutes before meals.
Did you know? In Europe, eggplant came in the VIII-IX centuries. during the Arab expansion through Morocco. In Africa, this plant was brought by the Umayyads from Mesopotamia in the course of three expansions 632-709 n. er In the Russian Empire came in the XVII-XVIII centuries from conquered Persia and Turkey.
Useful properties of dried eggplants
Fruits are useful not only in freshly prepared form. They can also be dried. This method of storage is better than conservation. When canning, the fruit loses up to 40% of useful substances, and when frozen, up to 20%.
Dried as follows: carefully wash and cut the berries into thin plates, thread them onto a thread and hang over the oven turned on (or a stove with the burners on) for a few hours. The berries should become slightly dried, but make sure that they do not dry out and burn. After that, strung slices are hung indoors and dried for two weeks on the air. Dried eggplants are stored in a cool dry place.
Did you know? In food, eggplant began to be used in Europe only from the XV century. Before that, the Europeans used it exclusively as a medicine.Dried eggplants are very useful for people suffering from hypertension. The method of treatment is simple. Grind dry slices of eggplants through a coffee grinder and take the resulting powder once a day, a teaspoon before meals.
Read about other products treating hypertension: bee pollen, buckwheat honey, acacia, propolis, honeysuckle, gooseberry, blueberry garden, cloudberry, saxifrage, foxglove, periwinkle, marigold, cardamom, cape gooseberry, horse-radish, carrots, pumpkin, squash.Taking powder on a tablespoon per day will be a good prevention of kidney and liver diseases.
Infusion of powder can be used as a preventive and restorative drug for gums and teeth. Preparing the infusion is very easy. A tablespoon of the powder obtained by grinding is poured a glass of boiling water and infused to room temperature. Add a teaspoon of table salt and rinse your mouth.
Use in cooking
Eggplant began to be eaten as a product in Europe only from the 15th century. The advantages of this product are primarily in its ease of preparation and usefulness to the body. The high content of a balanced complex of vitamins and microelements provides the human body with essential substances. High caloric content in stew nourishes the human body, gives a charge of energy.
Did you know? In the Middle Ages in Europe, eggplant was endowed with mystical properties that arouse feelings, so it was called "the fruit of love."
The fruits of the plant are fried, stewed, pickled, dried and baked. Make salads, pates. All methods are very simple and inexpensive.- Fried eggplants. The berries are thoroughly washed, cut into thin rings, scalded with boiling water and salted. Then the slices are rolled in flour and fried in vegetable oil. Onions are also cut into rings and fried in a skillet in vegetable oil. After that, fried eggplants and onions are laid out in layers on a plate and poured sauce. The sauce is prepared in a skillet of sour cream and tomato puree. To do this, it is enough to bring the ingredients to a boil and keep them in this state for one minute.
- Eggplant in sour cream. The berries are peeled, cut along into two parts, placed for ten minutes in salted boiling water. The core is pre-cut, chopped into small pieces, fried in a griddle in vegetable oil. Then mixed with boiled rice, stewed carrots and onions, fresh herbs and raw egg. The resulting stuffing filled boiled halves of the fruit. Poured with a layer of sour cream, sprinkled with finely grated cheese. It is placed in the oven for fifteen minutes and served to the table.
- Baked eggplants in Greek. Berries are cut into slices, boiled for 10 minutes in salted water. After that, laid out in a container (pot or foil), salted, sprinkled with sugar. Garlic, hard grated cheese, olive oil are added. All this is poured with tomato sauce. Closes (wrapped), fits in the oven and cooks until ready.
Contraindications to the use
It should be borne in mind: from eggplant can be not only benefit, but also harm. Eating them has a number of contraindications.
Important! It is dangerous to have overripe or unripe fruits. In this form, the berries have a high content of solanine-M. An excess of this substance in the human body causes a very strong poisoning.To avoid solanine poisoning, it is best to place the fruit in salted water for fifteen minutes before cooking. The poison goes out of the berries. It should be noted that solanine is found only in purple, blue and dark blue berries. Fruits of light varieties do not have poison in their composition.
Did you know? Eggplants with improper cooking can even cause hallucinations and bouts of violence. Because of this, in the Middle Ages in Europe they were called "insane apple".
When overeating berries can cause indigestion. It is also recommended to limit the intake of eggplants to people suffering from arthrosis, diabetes mellitus of the first type (insulin-dependent), having problems with the gastrointestinal tract (gastritis, gastric ulcers and duodenal ulcers). It is not recommended to use in large quantities, if there are problems with the pancreas, kidneys. It is better not to eat at all if oxalate stones are in the kidneys.Despite all the dangers, it can be considered that eggplant is a very valuable and useful product. Otherwise, he would not have received such distribution. However, in all you need to know when to stop. These wonderful berries give room for imagination in their preparation, add strength and help to correct the figure.
