On Vivian birthday, Dotti was cooking a very nice looking eggplant dish. Eggplant is one of my favourite dish but I overheard something about eggplant allergy so my curiorsity was aroused. I did a bit of literature search about eggplant and found some good papers I would like to share with you guys.
Eggplant allergy
Only a few cases about eggplant allergy have been reported based on the allergic reactions of itching, rashes and edema due to the ingestion of eggplant. Specific IgE antibodies against eggplant antigens were detected by skin prick test and ELISA. Proteins (eggplant extracts) with molecular weight of 71 kDa, 64 kDa and 60 kDa (Pramod & Venkatesh, 2004) were detected by IgE immunoblotting only in allergic patients. It was found that eggplant allergens have cross-reactivity with some latex antigens (Lee et al., 2004) suggesting epitope mimicry is having a role in triggering the allergic response. Further investigation is required to understand the pathogenesis of this allergenic reaction.
Diabetes Treatment
National Diabetes Education Program of NIH, Mayo Clinic and American Diabetes Association recommend eggplant-based diet as a choice for management of type 2 diabetes. Eggplant contains high fiber and low soluble carbohydrate. In addition, eggplant also possess high levels of phenolic-linked antioxidant activity, alpha-glucosidase inhibitiory activity and high angiotensisn I-converting enzyme inhibitory activity in which could reduce hyperglycemia-induced pathogenesis. Inhibition of these enzymes provide a strong biochemical basis for management of type 2 diabetes by controlling glucose absorption and reducing associated hypertension (Kwon et al., 2008).
Cholesterol Regulator
In many countries eggplant have been used as hypocholesterolemic agent to control the cholesterol metabolism. However, eggplant was found to increase oxidative stress (Botelho et al., 2004), which is a risk factor for atherosclerosis (thickening of the artery wall due to high levels of cholesterol).
There are great controversies about the benefits and dangers of eggplant consumption. There are no definite risks of eating eggplant but if you are hypersensitive to the eggplant extracts or lack of oxidative stress and antherogensis receptor then you should avoid taking it. By all means if you have diabetes and can still consume eggplant then there is no harm having it in your dietary intake.
Cheers!
References
1. Eggplant anaphylaxis in a patient with latex allergy (2004). Lee et al., Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, pg 995-996
2. Allergy to eggplant (Solanum melongena) (2004). Pradmod, S. N, Venkatesh, Y. P. Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunlogy, Volume 13 (1), 171-173.
3. In vitro studies of eggplant (Solanum melongena) phenolics as inhibitors of key enzymes relevant for type 2 diabetes and hypertension (2008). Kwon, Y. I., Apostolidis, E., Shetty, K. Bioresource Technology, Volume 99, 2981-2988.
4. Effects of eggplant (Solanum melongena) on the atherogenesis and oxidative stress in LDD receptor knock out mice (LDLR -/-) (2004). Botelho et al., Food and Chemical Toxicology, Volume 42, 1259-1267.
