Nutritional Content and Health Benefits of Bangladeshi Eggplant Ccultivars

Abstract

The investigation was conducted at the Olericulture Division, Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute and the laboratory work was done at Vegetable Research Technology Section, Institute of Food Science and Technology, Bangladesh Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, Dhaka, Bangladesh during 2019-20 with ten types (Six- OP, four- Hybrid) of eggplant cultivar viz., BARI Begun-4, BARI Begun-6, BARI Begun- 8, BARI Begun-10, BARI Hybrid Begun-2, BARI Hybrid Begun-4, SM233, SM275, Hybrid 5x216 and Hybrid 21x11 to study the nutritional composition and its human health benefit. Eggplant is ranked amongst the most top ten vegetables that provide the healthiest food with low calories and also contain high phenolic contents that are helpful in radical absorbing capacity. Each vegetable contains a unique amount of various nutrients that are strongly linked with the protection of different health diseases. There were no significant differences among the six OP and four hybrid cultivars regarding yield. Fruit yield was more or less the same but the main differences were in fruit size and color as well as fruit shape. We got the moisture content (91.39-94.87%, crude fiber (1.01-2.48%), ash (0.37-0.62%), protein (0.85-1.54%), fat (0.02-0.4%), carbohydrate (4.27-6.63%), energy (19.59-32.1Kcal), sugar (0.48-1.38%), ascorbic acid (6.57-17.21 mg 100g-1), anthocyanin (6.31-78.51 mgC3GE 100g-1). Significant amount of mineral were present in eggplant cultivars viz., K (122.38-162.27mg 100g-1), Na (4.06-8.51 mg 100g-1), Ca (26.62-48.33 mg 100g-1), P (14.45-23.45 mg 100g-1), Mg (15.42-24.8 mg 100g-1), Fe (0.91-5.0mg 100g-1), Zn (0.22-0.57mg 100g-1), Mn (0.25-0.41mg 100g-1) and Cu (0.10-0.16mg 100g-1). These nutritional amounts will able to provide a significant amount of nutrition to the human body for the proper growth. These compounds were found helpful in the cure of various diseases like cancer, anti-inflammatory, anti-asthmatic, anti-platelet hypo-lipidemic, and hypotensive, etc. Today most modern scientific techniques are available to cure different various health problems but still majority of the population across the globe depends upon the vegetables sources nutritious food.