Proximate and mineral compositions of cooked and uncooked Solanum melongena

Abstract

The proximate and mineral compositions of four different varieties of cooked and uncooked Solanum melongena were determined. Except for the percentage moisture, the levels of crude protein, crude fat, total ash and carbohydrate content were generally higher in uncooked samples than in cooked samples. Solanum macrocarpum (uncooked) has the highest moisture content with an average value of 73.9% and 84.5% for coat and flesh respectively, while the coat of Solanum sessiliflorum and flesh of Solanum aethiopicum have the least moisture content with average values of 60.0% and 69.5% respectively. The mineral components in the uncooked samples were generally found to be higher than those observed in the cooked samples. Solanum sessiliflorum has the highest value for nearly all the minerals for both the cooked and uncooked samples, while Solanum aethiopicum has the lowest value. The mineral contents were found to be higher in the coat than the flesh in most of the samples. Sodium and potassium were found to be the most abundant cations in both the coat and the flesh of cooked and uncooked fruits.