The role of nightshades in the modern human diet

This article examines the role of plants of the Solanaceae family (potatoes, eggplant, various types of pepper, tomatoes, etc.) in the diet of modern humans. Special attention is paid to the peculiarities of the chemical composition of representatives of this family, a number of myths have been analyzed, which in recent years have been very popular in nutritionology and dietetics: the negative effects on the body of nightshade alkaloids, lectins, calcitriol. Based on scientific data, the real risks of negative effects from the use of solanine, haconin, tomatin and other secondary metabolites of nightshade have been assessed. It has been shown that nightshades can be present in the human diet without harm to health.