Potential medicinal and Dietetic Importance of Solanaceae
Introduction
Solanaceae family also Known as a night-shade family having a lot of ornamental and food importance in the human life like potato, chilies, eggplant and tomato which feed the human being just not only have food importance but also medical Solanum lycopersicon which contain a natural cancer fighting ability the plants of this family contain a lot of important minerals and chemical which in very important for human global diet and some plant also use for ornamental purposes which beauty and upgrade the human living standard by adding the numerous color. Solanum is a gift of Good having a massive medicinal importance which helps the human being to prevent the catastrophic damage caused by numerous diseases in some area of the earth. Solanaceae use as staple food which serves the human being. WHO recommend eating at least 400 g of fruits and vegetables/day can eliminate the risk of non-communicable diseases. Night-shade covers wide range of vegetables No one can refuse the importance of night-shad family in the human life.
Potato (Solanum tuberoum)
The potato plant firstly cultivated for domestic purposes three to save thousand years ago in South America and is cultivated all around the world. Now potato grown in 160 country and use all over world. Potato ranks 3rd after wheat and rice in term of consumption.in Pakistan potato cultivated all around the year from plain to hilly areas. It is cultivation done by tuber. The dry mass and protein per unit growing of potato is higher than cereals crops. Potato and Potato processed food items could replace the cereal products and Potato produce food par unit water than any other crop up to seven times more efficient in water use with respect to cereal crop and play a vital role in food security for millions of the proper. Global production more than fifty present comes from developing countries. The potato tuber has remarkable adoptability and nutritional provide a plenty nutritious component of diet excellent vitamin C, potassium and fiber. In potato carbohydrate’s found in the form of starch round about 10-30% of the total fresh mass. Potato starch packed in to starch granules that contain two shape amylose and amylopectin with the ratio 1 : 3 respectively.
The cooking process cause the loose its crystalline properties and make the starch to gelatinize. Its contain potassium more the banana the value of potassium on par day serving is recommended can found in a medium potato. Vitamin A deficiency is widespread and β-carotenoid is a good source of vitamin A, Vitamin C water soluble that act as an antioxidant helps to prevent the caller damage. Fiber is a dietary complex carbohydrates plant material that can’t be absorbed and digestible by human stomach. The iron found in potato is enough to fulfil the tissue iron deficits. Among the carotenoid xathophyalare the most abundantly found potato. Lutein and β-carotene are two pigment important in eye health. Deficiency of these carotenoids lead to different ailments premature death and blindness. Potato contain 1- 1.5% of fresh tuber mass. It have less sulfur-containing amino acid (cysteine and methionine) and more lysine. Lutein protect against visual impairment, macular degeneration and blindness.
The Solanine in tuber of potato rest under the skin and in much less amount and after cooking further reduce its level. Solanine produce in high amount when tuber expose to sun light and also cause disorder tuber greening. Stem of the potato eatable. It’s a natural protection of plant from ward herbivorous. The herbaceous stem contain Solanine which can cause sickness in human and animals. Solanine can cues gastric distress, shock, delirium, paralysis and some other severe problems.
Tomato (Solanum lycopersicon)
Tomato was placed in genes Solanum in 1753 by Linnaeus. Botanically tomato is a fruit but from the culinary prospective it typically served as a meal. Tomato has attain tremendous popularity over the last century use as major vegetable from kitchen gardening to tunnels and outdoor field grow in every country . Tomato has origins back to 700 A.D native of south Americas now it a popular vegetable of the world. Now chine is a leading producer of china produce 33,911,935 tones. It just not adding the taste and color in the conventional dishes but also facilitates the as medicinal point of view.
The Solanum lycopersicon is a short duration annual crop now it have two verity determinate and indeterminate. Determinate is a bushy type 3-4 feet height any don’t need pruning with short duration and firstly complete there vegetative growth and then start reproductive growth. Indeterminate is a vain type having 1-3 M height bear more fruit then determinate. They continue their vegetative and reproductive side by side.
Tomato having alto of food and health benefits. Contain numerous important minerals, vitamin and carotenoid which protect the body and provide food based immunity. ½ chopped tomato cups provide 2000 calorie. The Diet for the age of 50 is about 2 ½ cups of vegetables/day. ½ cup of tomatoes has 15% of the daily recommended amount of vitamin A and 20% of the daily recommended amount of vitamin C.
Lycopene is Carotenoid play photoprotactive function during the photosynthesis also an impotent role in the human health and nutrition by adding the provitamin A having anti-cancer lycopene is one of the most powerful natural antioxidants which release more the double the effectiveness of the lycopene they bear when cooked, its help prevent prostate, lung, stomach, pancreatic, colorectal, esophageal, oral, breast and cervical cancersility. Lycopene also reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease and tomato helps to prevent the hardening of the arteries by dissolve the animal fat, while it contain high potassium which helps to reduce the high blood pressure a major risk of stroke and coronary heart disease.
Lycopene reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease and found that tomatoes help to dissolve animal fat in butter, cheese, eggs, pork, beef and many deep-fried foods, preventing hardening of the arteries Recent research has elaborate that the lycopene is at least twice as effective as b-carotene protects blood lymphocytes from NO2 radical damage. The major glycoalkaloid found in the tomato plant is tomatine. Glycoalkaloid is an alkaloid sounded by sugar. It is a natural defensive mechanism against the certain animals. Tomatine found in all green parts of the plants stem, leaf and immature green fruit of tomato. Older leaf of tomato having high concentration of tomatine. Tomatine as a cancer inhibitor property.
Chili (Capsicum frutescens L)
Chili (Capsicum frutescens L) plant is a perennial, small shrub, with woody stem growing up to a meter height.it is the native region of the Central America one the major and chief ingredients mostly dishes. It was introduced to rest of the world by Portuguese explores during the sixteenth and seventeenth century. Today it is important commercial crop and several chili paper cultivar is grown throughout the world. Depending upon the cultivar the character of is different flower bearing, fruit pod, of variable size, shape, and intensity of color and spicy or pungency. Chilies have a strong spicy and pungency taste that comes to them from the active alkaloid: capsorubin, capsanthin, and capsaicin. No one can refuse the importance in the culinary of chilies
A-vitamin and flavonoids like ß carotene, a-carotene, and cryptoxanthin. These antioxidant in capsicum help defend the body from injurious effects of free radicals generated during stress. Chili peppers (Capsicum frutescens L), red and green, are rich source of vitamin.C. 100 g fresh chilies provide round about 143.7 µg or round about 240% of RDA. Vitamin.C is a potent water-soluble and antioxidant property. It is required for the collagen protein synthesis inside the human body and Collagen is one of the main structural protein required for maintaining the blood vessels, organs, skin, and bones. Regular consumption of foods rich in vitamin.C helps protect from scurvy, develop resistance against infectious agents, pro-inflammatory and scavenge harmful free radicals from the body.
Chilies (Capsicum frutescens L) have a good amount of minerals like iron, manganese, potassium, and magnesium. Potassium is an important part of cell and body fluids that helps to controlling blood pressure and heart rate. Manganese is used in the body as a co-factor for the enzyme, antioxidant. Chilies are also good source in B-complex vitamins group such as pyridoxine (B-6 vitamin), riboflavin and vitamin B-1. This vitamins complex are essential in the sense that human body requires.
Chili pepper contains a massive list of plant derived chemical compounds that are known to have health promoting and disease preventing properties. Chilies having health alkaloid and benefiting compound in them, capsaicin, which gives them property of pungencies. Scoville Heat Units (SHU) a method is use to find out the pungency level of chili. The most accurate method is HPLC (high performance liquid chromatography. HPLC is an expensive method. Scoville heat unit (SHU) much more accurate and this method measure the total heat and as well as which individual capsaicinoids is present. A Pure Capsaicin 15,000,000-16,000,000 Scoville Heat Units Early experimental studies suggest that capsaicin has anti-bacterial, analgesic, anti-carcinogenic, and anti-diabetic properties. It also found to reduce LDL cholesterol levels in obese people.
Bell pepper (Capsicum annuum)
Bell pepper the native of central and South America. After 1500s the cultivation spread throughout the Asia and Europe. Technically it is a perennial but grow as an annual in under temperate climate sensitive to low temperature and relatively slow to establish. Mostly production provide in the green house. Mostly Sweet pepper resemble to the bell-shaped that why the name of sweet pepper is also use bell paper. The shape and color of bell pepper very from round to oblong, tapered with orange, green, yellow or red. The skin is shiny smooth with green color when it’s immature and red when allowed to fully ripen. New cultivars of sweet paper offer either mature and immature pepper in purple, brown, yellow, orange or red. Pepper contain white seed which hot in taste. It is use as a vegetable in immature green stage
Green house production of sweet paper is based on the indeterminate cultivars in which plants continue vegetative and reproductive development new stem, leaves and fruit bear simultaneously. Indeterminate cultivar require constant pruning for proper management. I order to maintain the vegetal and regenerative growth ultimate the yield.
Impressive list of plant nutrients exist in bell pepper which contain health promoting and disease preventing. On the other hand having the low calories and fat 100 g provide only 31calories. Bell pepper contain an alkaloid compound capsaicin which in an anti-bacterial, anti-carcinogenic, anti-diabetic and analgesic properties.in obese individualist sweet paper also found to reduce the LDL cholesterol and triglycerides level. Green and red paper have more vitamin, nutrients and contain antioxidant lycopene. In red pepper the level of lycopene is nine times higher. Red pepper have twice c-vitamin of green pepper. One large red bell pepper contain 209 mg vitamin C which is three time of an orange.
Eggplant (Solanum melongena)
It is believed that the domestication of eggplant is started from India, china Burma or someplace in Southeast Asia and the first use of the eggplant was for the medicinal rather than the culinary purpose. Now day there are round about 15-20 different verities of eggplant. With the passage of the domestication process increase the fruit weight and size and also altered the flavor, flesh and peel color. Wild eggplant is prickly is protective adaptation from the herbivorous. The existing cultivars of eggplant having few or no prickles, a trait selected by the humans to make the save plucking for omnivores.
The shape and color of the eggplant doesn’t affect the beneficial phytochemical and nutrition compound that benefits the human health. Consumption of eggplant decreases the chances of obesity, diabetes, heart disease and also promotes a healthy complexion and hair. All components present in eggplant support the heart health like fiber, potassium, vitamin-C, B-6 and phytonutrients. Consuming even a small quantity of flavonoid-rich food my beneficial for human health. The consumption of flavonoid known as anthocyanin play a key role in lowering the risk up to 34% cardiovascular problems. It also associated to lowering the blood pressure
Eggplant juice play a significant decrease in weight and cholesterol. The chlorogenic acid found in eggplant has been shown decrease LDL level, and serves as an antiviral, antimicrobial, and anticarcinogenic agent. Polyphenols in eggplant have been found to exhibit anti-cancer effect. Nasunin is an anthocyanin within the skin of eggplant is a powerful antioxidant and protect the brain cell from free radial damage
Author:
Muhammad Usman
03457722366
Instate of Horticulture sciences
University of Agriculture, Faisalabad.
Email:[email protected]
