Eggplant

Eggplant comes in a range of shapes and colors. Globe eggplants are the largest and most common, and are often salted before cooking to reduce their bitterness and water content.

Health Benefits:  While eggplants don't have an overwhelming supply of any one nutrient, they do contain an impressive array across the board of many vitamins and minerals, such as excellent amounts of fiber, folate, potassium and manganese, as well as vitamins C, K, and B6, phosphorus, copper, thiamin, niacin, magnesium, and pantothenic acid.  Studies indicate that eggplant has a number of health benefits from all these ingredients, as well as traditional uses. Sometimes, the leaves and roots are juiced or boiled to make a tonic for throat and stomach troubles, asthma, skin diseases, rheumatism, inflammation, intestinal hemorrhages, foot pain, coughs, anorexia, toothache, or as a general stimulant.

Modern-day scientists found that the Black Magic variety of eggplant contains nearly three times the amount of antioxidant phenolics they found in other eggplant types. Phenols are known to be one of the most powerful free radical scavengers, which can prevent cancer development and heart disease, but it's these very attributes that give eggplants a slight bitter taste.

In Season:  Though available year-round, eggplant peaks in the summer.

How to Select:  The flesh of an eggplant should give a bit when gently pressed; it should have no hard spots. The skin should be shiny, not shriveled, wrinkled, or mottled. Stems should be green. Avoid those with brown or soft spots.

How to Store:  Whole eggplant will keep up to a few days in a cool place.