PUNCH
Ordinarily, peanuts do not cause liver cancer as people believe. What you should avoid are mouldy or spoilt groundnuts because they contain aflatoxin.
Having said that, I am worried about consuming store-bought peanut butter. Apart from the fact that they have added sugar, no one knows the state of the peanuts used.
I would like you to be making your peanut butter at home. I have a video on this. I am just a text away from you if you are interested.
This week, on our visit to nature’s pharmacy, we shall be discussing garden eggs. It is botanically called Solanum aethiopicum and it belongs to the family Solanaceae.
The Igbos call it ‘Anara,’ it is used traditionally to welcome visitors to their homes and it is eaten with a creamy peanut paste dip known as ‘Ose-oji’. Also, the leaves are eaten as a leaf vegetable and also used to prepare African salad in Igbo land.
Garden egg is eaten both raw and cooked in Yoruba land. It is especially used to make a sauce for eating yam. I saw somewhere on Google where it was said to be called “Igbagba” in Yoruba. That is not correct. The Yorubas call it ‘Igba.’
‘Igbagba’ is Solanum macrocarpon and the Yoruba use only the leaves as a vegetable, the fruits are not eaten. What Solanum macrocarpon (Igbagba) and Solanum aethiopicum (garden egg) share in common is that they both belong to the Solanacae family.
You should consider adding Solanum melongena, popularly called ‘Aubergine’ into your diet too. It also belongs to the Solanacae family. It is that big purple eggplant. It is rich in anthocyanin which is an important group of naturally occurring pigments found in plants of red and/or purple-coloured fruits.
A diet rich in these compounds may prevent inflammation and protect against type 2 diabetes, cancer and heart disease. Regularly eating anthocyanin-rich foods may also benefit your memory and overall brain health.
In fact, I saw a scientific study that suggested that Solanum melongena would be of benefit to patients suffering from raised intraocular pressure (glaucoma) and convergence insufficiency. Another study showed that the extracts of the leaves exhibit strong antioxidant activities.
Phytochemical analysis of garden egg shows that it is a rich source of various essential compounds such as histidine, nasunin, oxalic acid, anthocyanin, chlorogenic acid, solasodine, aspartic acid, tropane, flavonoids, lanosterol, gramisterol, steroid alkaloids, glycoalkaloids, ascorbic acid and tryptophan which are present in the fruits and leaves.
The garden egg is a very good source of dietary fibre, potassium, manganese, magnesium, and copper. It contains carbohydrates, proteins, fat, fibre, iron, calcium, folate, and vitamins (A; B1, B2, B3, B6, B12; C, D) that are crucial for human health.
Apart from its low calories and high moisture contents, it contains essential nutrients such as carbohydrates, proteins, fibres and vitamins that are vital for human health.
It has been shown to have several medicinal values and is sometimes said to be neutraceutics, so it is employed in the treatment of high blood pressure, diabetes, cholera, uterine complaints as well as skin infections in humans.
Research has revealed that its extracts possess anticarcinogenic, antioxidants, antiobesity, anti-inflammatory, antidiabetic, antibacterial, antiulcer and beneficial ophthalmic properties.
Here is a simplified summary of some research on the fruit and its leaves. In a study, a garden egg was administered in two forms (supplementation and extract) and its effects on body weight gain were investigated.
Consumption of S. aethiopicum either as an extract or supplemented significantly reduced weight gain in diabetic rats. However, the weight-lowering effect is more pronounced with the extract.
This observation implies that eating garden eggs as fresh fruit confers adequate and optimal weight-lowering benefits than when supplemented in diets as seen in various traditional cuisines such as boiling with yams, frying with eggs and pounding with groundnut to make sauce, soup and so on.
This reduction in weight by S. aethiopicum may be attributed to its high fibre and low cholesterol and protein contents which prevents rapid weight gain and irrational eating.
Another study was done to evaluate the effects of aqueous and methanolic leaf extracts of Solanum aethiopicum on hyperglycemia (high blood sugar) and body weight in rats.
The conclusion is that aqueous and methanolic extracts of the leaves of Solanum aethiopicum could be used to manage body weight under hyperglycemia and treatment of diabetes.
The results of another study lent credence to the use of S. aethiopicum leaf as an anti-anaemic tonic. This study not only found that the leaves can increase red blood cells, it also found out that the leaf is safe for use and that it even has hepatoprotective (protects the liver) and renoprotective ( protects the kidneys) potentials.
Garden eggs can help with weight loss because they are high in fibre and low in calories. This makes them an excellent addition to any weight loss regimen.
They contain chlorogenic acid, which is a bioactive compound that helps reduce or maintain blood pressure. It is beneficial for diabetics. They improve vision.
They lower cholesterol. They improve digestion, and boost the immune system. They are rich in antioxidants and good for the bones. They contain solasodine rhamnosyl glycosides, which test-tube studies indicate may aid in cancer treatment.
In a study titled The anti-inflammatory activity of garden egg (Solanum aethiopicum) on egg albumin—induced oedema and granuloma tissue formation in rats by Anosike et al, extracts of garden egg significantly reduced the fresh egg albumin-induced rat paw oedema and also significantly reduced the granuloma tissue formation in the treated groups when compared to the control.
This study shows that the fruits of garden eggs (S. aethiopicum) have anti-inflammatory activity in the models studied.
One study titled Does the African garden egg offer protection against experimentally induced ulcer by Anosike et al concludes that garden egg, a readily cultivated crop vegetable possesses ulcer protective properties against ulcers induced experimentally making it a cheap source of natural anti-ulcer remedy.
In yet another study, title Comparative Effect of Garden Egg Fruit, Oat and Apple on Serum Lipid Profile in Rats Fed a High Cholesterol Diet, the result showed that garden eggplant significantly reduced serum total cholesterol, triglyceride and increased serum HDL-cholesterol (good cholesterol) compared with oat and apple in both the mid-term and full-term studies. The study then concluded that garden eggplant has a more hypolipidemic effect than apples and oats.
