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ARS Home » Plains Area » Fargo, North Dakota » Edward T. Schafer Agricultural Research Center » Sunflower and Plant Biology Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #317667
Title: Comparison of nutrient content in fruit of commercial cultivars of eggplant (Solanum melongena L.)

Author
item AYAZ, FAIK AHMET - Karadeniz Technical University
item COLAK, NESRIN - Karadeniz Technical University
item TOPUZ, MUJGAN - Karadeniz Technical University
item TARKOWSKI, PETR - Palacky University
item JAWOREK, PAVEL - Palacky University
item Seiler, Gerald
item INCEER, HUSEYIN - Karadeniz Technical University

Submitted to: Polish Journal of Food and Nutrition Sciences
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/16/2015
Publication Date: 11/10/2015
Citation: Ayaz, F.A., Colak, N., Topuz, M., Tarkowski, P., Jaworek, P., Seiler, G., Inceer, H. 2015. Comparison of nutrient content in fruit of commercial cultivars of eggplant (Solanum melongena L.). Polish Journal of Food and Nutrition Sciences. 65(4):251-259. doi:10.1515/pjfns-2015-0035.

Interpretive Summary: A balanced diet is known to be very important for human health. Fruit and vegetables constitute an essential part of daily diets with their basic/essential nutrients. Many human diseases are due to unbalanced diets or malnutrition. There is therefore increasing interest in profiling fruit and vegetables for potential nutrients in order to improve diets and fight malnutrition. One of the most common strategies in evaluating fruits and vegetables for feeding the human population is to profile their nutritional importance by analyzing their basic/essential nutrients, amino acids, fats (fatty acids), carbohydrates, minerals and vitamins. Eggplant is one of the most important vegetable crops with over 4.3 million acres of production worldwide. Interest in the fruit has encouraged growers to produce different cultivars of eggplant. The current reserch investigated the nutrient content of seven local-type Turkish eggplants used in the diet as fresh, dried, preserved, and cooked forms. The current findings and those in the literature reveal a considerable variation in the concentrations of nutrients both within and among eggpalnt cultivars. Consequently, such nutritional comparisons among eggplants via selection and breeding programs can lead to materials with improved nutritional content, especially amino acids and minerals. When the number of eggplant cultivars, varieties, and germplasms reported here and in the literature are considered, sufficient potential genetic variation exists to allow plant breeders to select on the basis of targeted nutritional or antioxidant features.

Technical Abstract: Eggplant is one of the most popular common major vegetable crops worldwide. This study evaluated the nutritional content of seven commercial eggplant fruits in terms of fatty acid, mineral, sugar, organic acids, amino acids, and polyamine contents. The most abundant fatty acid was linoleic acid (range, 39.14 - 53.81%, mean 45%), and the most abundant mineral was K (range, 1556.2 - 3171.6 mg/kg fresh weight, mean 2331.9). The major organic acid was malic acid (range, 129.87 - 387.01 mg/g fresh weight, mean 157.49), and the major sugar was fructose (range, 1242.81 - 1379.77 mg/100g fresh weight, mean 1350.88). The major polyamine was putrescine (11.54 and 25.70 nmol/g fresh weight, mean 17.86), and the major amino acid was glutamine (148.4 and 298.75 mg/100 g fresh weight, mean 219.74). Taking into account the export potential of eggplants, results of the current study may contribute to further studies aiming to improve other nutrient-rich varieties of eggplant through breeding programs.