Pickled eggplant is not poisonous as many people think.

Recently there has been a lot of information that pickled eggplant is harmful to health, making many people confused.

On hot summer days, a bowl of pickled eggplant with a little sour soup will be a simple yet attractive dish for many people. Pickled eggplant is considered a "rice-friendly" dish in every family meal. However, with the information that pickled eggplant causes cancer, causes diseases..., many people are worried.

Instant salt is not harmful to health.

Eggplant in particular and eggplants in the eggplant family in general are considered nutritious foods. According to Oriental medicine, eggplant is sweet, cold, has the effect of dissolving blood, reducing inflammation, relieving pain, laxative, diuretic, treating toxic edema, eliminating lumps in the abdomen, tuberculosis. Every 100g of eggplant provides 1.5g of protein (with all the amino acids necessary for the body), 12mg of calcium, 0.7mg of iron, 18mg of magnesium, 16mg of phosphorus, 221g of potassium, 0.3mg of zinc. In addition, it also contains copper and selenium, which are precious micronutrients. Many vitamins such as provitamin A, vitamin C (3mg/100g), vitamin B1, B2, PP are also found in eggplant.

According to Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Thi Lam - Deputy Director of the National Institute of Nutrition of Vietnam, pickled eggplant as well as some other nutritious foods are added to the daily menu of families. Eggplant has the effect of stimulating digestion, helping to eat well, easy to digest, supplementing beneficial microorganisms for the digestive system such as lactobacillus, acidophilus and plantain, providing a large amount of fiber for the body, limiting some diseases caused by lack of fiber such as hemorrhoids, constipation, colon cancer.

Pickled eggplant as a digestive stimulant

Dr. Lam Van Man - Head of Research, Development and Technology Transfer Department - Institute of Food Safety said that eggplant contains solanine, which is a toxic substance. In addition, eggplant also contains the green part of potatoes.

However, Solanine can dissolve in salt, so soaking it in water before pickling can reduce solanine. Especially when pickling eggplants, the solanine content is greatly reduced. Pickled eggplants do not contain carcinogens as some rumors say, except in cases where the fruit has high nitrate residue (ie too much chemical fertilizer such as phosphate fertilizer...).

Some notes when eating pickled eggplant

According to Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Thi Lam, although pickled eggplant has many nutrients and is a delicious digestive stimulant, it should be eaten in moderation. Pickled eggplant is salty, so eating too much will cause excess salt in the body and cause some intestinal diseases.

According to Dr. Lam Van Man, there are some cases where you should not eat pickled eggplant such as:

- Sick people should not eat pickled eggplant (solanine is toxic so sick people should not eat it).

- Pregnant women should not eat pickled eggplant because according to some studies, solanine affects the development of the fetus (causing birth defects).

- To have a hygienic and safe pickled eggplant dish, housewives can buy eggplant, slice it thinly, soak it in clean water for 2-3 hours, then soak it in diluted salt water for 1 hour, then pickle it for 3-4 hours before using.

According to giadinh.net