AFRICAN GARDEN EGG REDUCES CHOLESTEROL, POOR SIGHT.

Besides being touted as a natural anti-ulcer
recipe, studies show that African garden
egg is effective in lowering blood
cholesterol and glaucoma.
GARDEN egg is a fruit but an unusual kind of
fruit, which is even used for the
preparation of stew.
Botanically known as Solanum melongena,
of the Solanaceae family and locally called
Igba among the Yoruba of Southwest
Nigeria. This populous African fruit remains
a delight for researchers as the effects of
garden egg are not only nutritional but
significantly of health benefits as the tree
that bearers them.
Studies revealed that garden egg positively
help with heart problems and will make the
weight reduction diet more successful.
Some of the studies conducted in Africa,
have come to the conclusion that garden
egg is very effective in blood cholesterol
reduction.
It is currently a fruit in season and at their
best from August through October when
they come to the market in droves. They are
eaten raw or made as stew to compliment
steaming yam. Both delight the appetite
indeed!
The cream-colour flesh has a pleasantly
bitter taste (due to the presence of small
amounts of nicotinoid alkaloids) and
spongy consistency. But garden egg plant
has more to offer than ensuring fewer
cases of constipation, reduction in blood
cholesterol and protection from poor vision
due to glaucoma.
Among the Igbo people in Nigeria
community, they can hardly do without
eating garden egg, because it is good for
the sight.
In a study to assess the “Effects of garden
egg on some visual functions of visually
active Igbos of Nigeria”, experts found that
its consumption might be of great benefits
to glaucoma patients.
Researchers at the Department of
Pharmacology and Therapeutics, College of
Medicine and Health Sciences, Abia State
University, Uturu, Department of
Pharmacology and Therapeutics, University
of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Enugu, and
School of Optometry, Abia State University,
Uturu, Nigeria, Drs. S. A. Igwe, D. N. Akunyili
and C. Ogbogu respectively did the study,
published in the 2003 issue of the Journal
of Ethnopharmacology.
The study, which initially set out to find out
if there may be complications associated
with its excessive consumption in the male
volunteers that were involved in the study,
found they all had a reduced pupil size.
They also had a lower intraocular pressure.
It dropped by 25 per cent, even though it
was yet still within the normal range. They
concluded that garden egg consumption did
not produce any vision discomfort and that
people needed not fear eating plenty of it
since it could even help to lower eye
pressure in persons with glaucoma.
Even though garden egg is generally said
not to contain huge amount of protein and
other nutrients, it is low in sodium, low in
calories 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 regulate blood pressure.
Expert in a study indicated that garden egg
could be used for the treatment of stomach
ulcers. The study was undertaken to
evaluate the possible anti-ulcer effect of the
African garden egg and was published in
the 2011 Journal of the Asian Pacific Journal
of Tropical Medicine by Anosike Chioma,
Abonyi Obiora and Ubaka Chukwuemeka. All
were from the University of Nigeria,
Nsukka, Nigeria.
They found that it possessed ulcer
protective properties against ulcers induced
experimentally, making it a cheap source of
natural anti-ulcer remedy.
In the study, 25 overnight fasted rats were
divided randomly into five groups of five
rats. Groups one, two, three, four and five
received normal saline, extract dose levels
of 100, 200 and 400 mg/kg and 100 mg/kg
of ranitidine respectively.
All administrations were given orally. The
methanol extract of the plant fruit was
prepared by maceration. Ulcers were
induced using two ulcerogenic agents
(indomethacin, 50 mg/kg and aspirin 200
mg/kg). Ulcer index was checked and
analysed with appropriate statistical tools.
The scientists found that extract of garden
egg showed positive effect on all the
models used. It produced higher ulcer
inhibition than ranitidine in the
indomethacin and acid-ethanol models. All
the anti-ulcer effects of the extract at
different doses were dose dependent but
only in indomethacin model did it produce
statistically significant ulcer reduction in all
doses compared to control.
However, in a study by Dr S.O Bello and
others in the 2005 edition of the Research
Journal of Agriculture and Biological
Sciences, which assessed the toxicity and
pharmacological properties of the aqueous
crude extract of garden egg, while the
researchers agree that this fruit may work
both for the control of weight and asthma,
they raised some doubt about its use for
the control of acute attacks of asthma.
In a study undertaken to assess the
influence of whole garden egg plant in
comparison to apples and oats on serum
lipid profile in rats fed a high cholesterol
diet that were obtained from the animal
unit of Department of Pharmacology and
Toxicology of the Faculty of Pharmacy,
University of Benin, Benin City, Nigeria, the
results suggested that eating garden egg is
better at reducing blood cholesterol than
apple and oat.
The lipid profile includes total cholesterol,
HDL-cholesterol (often called good
cholesterol), LDL-cholesterol (often called
bad cholesterol), and triglycerides. A high
level of blood cholesterol level, more
particularly low-density lipoprotein
cholesterol, is a primary risk factor for
cardiovascular diseases such as stroke and
heart disease.
James Karho Edijala, Samuel Ogheneovo
Asagba and Uzezi Atomatofa from the
Department of Biochemistry, Delta State
University, Abraka, Nigeria as well as George
Edaghogho Eriyamremu from the
Department of Biochemistry, University of
Benin, Benin City, Nigeria, did the study. It
was published in the 2005 edition of the
Pakistan Journal of Nutrition.
According to their observation, garden egg
plant significantly reduced weight gain in
those rats that eat this fruit compared with
those that had oat and apple in both the
mid-term and full-term studies.
The experts attributed the health benefits of
eating foods like garden egg to its
effectiveness at boosting High plasma HDL-
cholesterol. They stated that it might be
beneficial since studies had unequivocally
established an inverse relationship between
HDL-cholesterol and incidence of
cardiovascular diseases like stroke.
Guimaraes and his co-workers in the 2000
edition of the Brazilian Journal of Medical
Biology Research reported a similar
observation with garden egg plant juice
infusion in humans.