Quick-pickled eggplant is not as toxic as many people mistakenly believe.

Recently, there has been a lot of information circulating that quick-pickled eggplant can be harmful to health, causing many people to worry.

On hot summer days, a bowl of quick-pickled eggplant with some sour soup is a simple yet appealing dish for many. Quick-pickled eggplant is considered a "rice-accompanying" dish in family meals. However, the numerous reports about quick-pickled eggplant causing cancer and other diseases have caused considerable concern among many people.

Salted vegetables are not harmful to health.

Eggplant, and eggplants in general, are considered highly nutritious foods. According to Traditional Chinese Medicine, eggplant has a sweet taste and a cooling nature, with effects such as dispersing blood clots, reducing inflammation, relieving pain, promoting bowel movements, acting as a diuretic, treating edema and toxic dampness, removing abdominal lumps, and treating tuberculosis. 100g of eggplant provides 1.5g of protein (containing all the essential amino acids), 12mg of calcium, 0.7mg of iron, 18mg of magnesium, 16mg of phosphorus, 221g of potassium, and 0.3mg of zinc. It also contains copper and selenium, valuable trace minerals. Many vitamins such as provitamin A, vitamin C (3mg/100g), vitamin B1, B2, and PP are also present in eggplant.

According to Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Thi Lam, Deputy Director of the National Institute of Nutrition of Vietnam, pickled eggplant, like some other nutritious foods, is added to the daily menus of families. Eggplant stimulates digestion, improves appetite, aids digestion, supplements beneficial microorganisms for the digestive system such as lactobacillus, acidophilus, and plantarum, provides a large amount of fiber to the body, and helps prevent some diseases caused by fiber deficiency such as hemorrhoids, constipation, and colon cancer.

Quick-pickled eggplant is a dish that stimulates digestion.

Dr. Lam Van Man, Head of the Research, Development and Technology Transfer Department at the Institute of Food Safety, stated that eggplant contains solanine, a toxic substance. Additionally, eggplant also contains the greenish part of a potato.

However, solanine is soluble in salt, so soaking the eggplant in water before pickling can reduce its solanine content. The solanine content is significantly reduced, especially when pickling eggplants in a sour brine. Contrary to some rumors, pickled eggplants do not contain carcinogens, except in cases where the fruit has high nitrate residue (i.e., excessive use of chemical fertilizers such as phosphorus fertilizer).

Some things to keep in mind when eating pickled eggplant.

According to Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Thi Lam, while quick-pickled eggplant is nutritious and stimulates digestion, it should be consumed in moderation. Because pickled eggplant is salty, eating too much can lead to excess salt in the body and cause certain intestinal problems.

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

- Sick people should not eat pickled eggplant (solanine is a toxic substance, so it should be avoided by those who are ill).

Pregnant women should avoid eating pickled eggplant because some studies have shown that solanine affects fetal development (causing birth defects).

- To make hygienic and safe pickled eggplant, 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, and then pickle it for 3-4 hours before it's ready to eat.

According to giadinh.net