EGGPLANT

The fruit is a berry of intense purple color and oval shape with dimensions of around 12x15cm, with a variable weight ranging from 200 to 350 gr.

The aubergine plant is an annual herbaceous plant, it seems to originate from the warm areas of India and China where it grew in the wild and was used both in cooking and in medicine. It was the Arabs who spread it throughout the Middle East and from there to the European countries of the Mediterranean. Nowadays it is still very widespread in Asia (China), in fact this continent holds the 80% of the cultivated surface, followed by Turkey, Japan, the Philippines, Egypt and Italy. In Italy it is cultivated in Campania, Calabria, Sicily, Puglia and later in many other regions, including in the north of the country.

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Eggplant is a very important source of vitamins, mineral salts and dietary fibre. It also contains a good dose of phytonutrients including some flavonoids and chlorogenic acid. It should be consumed after cooking, but a recent study has shown that heat treatment does not decrease the content of antioxidants present in the fruit. The few calories in aubergines make this vegetable a low-calorie food, providing only 25 calories per 100 g of product and therefore suitable for weight loss diets. Furthermore, its limited carbohydrate content and the presence of a good quantity of fiber also make it an excellent food for those suffering from type 2 diabetes mellitus. In particular, we can find a good quantity of phosphorus and potassium (around the 5% of recommended daily intake) and lower quantities of iron, calcium, sodium and zinc (respectively 2%, 1.4%, 1.7% and 1.8% of the recommended intakes for each of the minerals mentioned. However concerns vitamins, it is a vegetable rich in vitamin C and B vitamins: in particular thiamine (B1), riboflavin (B2), niacin (B3), vitamin B6 and folates (vitamin B9, folic acid).