Most commonly purple, the spongy, absorbent fruit is used in several cuisines. Typically used as a vegetable in cooking, it is a berry by botanical definition. As a member of the genus Solanum, it is related to the tomato, chili pepper, and potato, although those are of the New World while the eggplant is of the Old World. Like the tomato, its skin and seeds can be eaten, but it is usually eaten cooked. Eggplant is nutritionally low in macronutrient and micronutrient content, but the capability of the fruit to absorb oils and flavors into its flesh through cooking expands its use in the culinary arts.
It was originally domesticated from the wild nightshade species thorn or bitter apple, S. incanum,[4][5][6] probably with two independent domestications: one in South Asia, and one in East Asia.[7] In 2021, world production of eggplants was 59 million tonnes, with China and India combined accounting for 86% of the total.
Description
The eggplant is a delicate, tropical perennial plant often cultivated as a tender or half-hardyannual in temperate climates. The stem is often spiny. The flowers are white to purple in color, with a five-lobed corolla and yellow stamens.[8] Some common cultivars have fruit that is egg-shaped, glossy, and purple with white flesh and a spongy, "meaty" texture. Some other cultivars are white and longer in shape. The cut surface of the flesh rapidly turns brown when the fruit is cut open (oxidation).[9]
Eggplant grows 40 to 150cm (1ft 4in to 4ft 11in) tall,[10] with large, coarsely lobedleaves that are 10 to 20cm (4 to 8in) long and 5 to 10cm (2 to 4in) broad.[11] Semiwild types can grow much larger, to 225cm (7ft 5in), with large leaves over 30cm (12in) long and 15cm (6in) broad. On wild plants, the fruit is less than 3cm (1+1⁄4in) in diameter[12]
Botanically classified as a berry, the fruit contains numerous small, soft, edible seeds that taste bitter because they contain or are covered in nicotinoidalkaloids, like the related tobacco.[13]
Left to right: a) Closeup of eggplant flower; b) Thorns and leaves of the plant; c) A developing fruit; d) Transversal section of the fruit showcasing the arrangement of seeds; e) Longitudinal section of eggplant. There are almost no seeds at the top but they become plentiful at the bottom. Although the photograph was taken just a few moments after slicing, the flesh of the eggplant has already begun to oxidize.
History
Long purple eggplantsPurple eggplant, ready for harvesting.Varieties of Solanum melongena from the Japanese Seikei Zusetsu agricultural encyclopedia
There is no consensus about the place of origin of eggplant; the plant species has been described as native to South Asia,[15][16] where it continues to grow wild, or Africa.[17] It has been cultivated in southern and eastern Asia since prehistory. The first known written record of the plant is found in Qimin Yaoshu, an ancient Chinese agricultural treatise completed in 544 CE.[18]
Eggplant was introduced to Europe through the Iberian Peninsula, where it became a staple among Muslim and Jewish communities.[19] The presence of numerous Arabic and North African names for the vegetable, coupled with the absence of ancient Greek and Roman names, suggests that it was cultivated in the Mediterranean area by Arabs during the early Middle Ages, arriving in Spain in the 8th century.[20] A book on agriculture by Ibn Al-Awwam in 12th-century Muslim Spain described how to grow aubergines.[21] Records exist from later medieval Catalan and Spanish,[22] as well as from 14th-century Italy.[23] Unlike its popularity in Spain and limited presence in southern Italy, the eggplant remained relatively obscure in other regions of Europe until the 17th century.[19]
The aubergine is unrecorded in England until the 16th century. An English botany book in 1597 described the madde or raging Apple:
This plant groweth in Egypt almost everywhere... bringing foorth fruite of the bignes of a great Cucumber.... We have had the same in our London gardens, where it hath borne flowers, but the winter approching before the time of ripening, it perished: notwithstanding it came to beare fruite of the bignes of a goose egge one extraordinarie temperate yeere... but never to the full ripenesse.[24]
Because of the plant's relationship with various other nightshades, the fruit was at one time believed to be extremely poisonous. The flowers and leaves can be poisonous if consumed in large quantities due to the presence of solanine.[26]
The eggplant has a special place in folklore. In 13th-century Italian traditional folklore, the eggplant can cause insanity.[27] In 19th-century Egypt, insanity was said to be "more common and more violent" when the eggplant is in season in the summer.[28]
Etymology and regional names
White eggplant compared to two chicken eggs
The plant and fruit have a profusion of English names.
Eggplant-type names
The name eggplant is usual in North American English and Australian English. First recorded in 1763, the word "eggplant" was originally applied to white cultivars, which look very much like hen's eggs (see image).[29][30][31] Similar names are widespread in other languages, such as the Icelandic term eggaldin or the Welshplanhigyn ŵy.
The white, egg-shaped varieties of the eggplant's fruits are also known as garden eggs,[32] a term first attested in 1811.[33] The Oxford English Dictionary records that between 1797 and 1888, the name vegetable egg was also used.[34]
Aubergine-type names
Whereas eggplant was coined in English, most of the diverse other European names for the plant derive from the Arabic: باذنجانbāḏinjān[bæːðɪnˈd͡ʒæːn]listenⓘ.[35]Bāḏinjān is itself a loan-word in Arabic, whose earliest traceable origins lie in the Dravidian languages. The Hobson-Jobson dictionary comments that "probably there is no word of the kind which has undergone such extraordinary variety of modifications, whilst retaining the same meaning, as this".[36]
In English usage, modern names deriving from Arabic bāḏinjān include:
Illustration of an eggplant (upper picture) in a 1717 manuscript of a work by the thirteenth-century Persian Zakariya al-Qazwini.
All the aubergine-type names have the same origin, in the Dravidian languages. Modern descendants of this ancient Dravidian word include Malayalamvaṟutina and Tamilvaṟutuṇai.[35]
The Dravidian word was borrowed into the Indo-Aryan languages, giving ancient forms such as Sanskrit and Palivātiṅ-gaṇa (alongside Sanskrit vātigama) and Prakritvāiṃaṇa. According to the entry brinjal in the Oxford English Dictionary, the Sanskrit word vātin-gāna denoted 'the class (that removes) the wind-disorder (windy humour)': that is, vātin-gāna came to be the name for eggplants because they were thought to cure flatulence. The modern Hindustani words descending directly from the Sanskrit name are baingan and began.[38]
The Indic word vātiṅ-gaṇa was then borrowed into Persian as bādingān. Persian bādingān was borrowed in turn into Arabic as bāḏinjān (or, with the definite article, al-bāḏinjān). From Arabic, the word was borrowed into European languages.[35]
From Arabic into Iberia and beyond
In al-Andalus, the Arabic word (al-)bāḏinjān was borrowed into the Romance languages in forms beginning with b- or, with the definite article included, alb-:[35]
The Spanish word alberenjena was then borrowed into French, giving aubergine (along with French dialectal forms like albergine, albergaine, albergame, and belingèle). The French name was then borrowed into British English, appearing there first in the late eighteenth century.[35]
Through the colonial expansion of Portugal, the Portuguese form bringella was borrowed into a variety of other languages:[35]
Indian, Malaysian, Singaporean and South African English brinjal, brinjaul (first attested in the seventeenth century).
Thus although Indian English brinjal ultimately originates in languages of the Indian Subcontinent, it actually came into Indian English via Portuguese.
From Arabic into Greek and beyond
Illustrations of an eggplant from a possibly fifteenth-century French manuscript of a work by Matthaeus Platearius. The word melonge, below the illustration, has a blue initial M-.
The Arabic word bāḏinjān was borrowed into Greek by the eleventh century CE. The Greek loans took a variety of forms, but crucially they began with m-, partly because Greek lacked the initial b- sound and partly through folk-etymological association with the Greek word μέλας (melas), 'black'. Attested Greek forms include ματιζάνιον (matizanion, eleventh-century), μελιντζάνα (melintzana, fourteenth-century), and μελιντζάνιον (melintzanion, seventeenth-century).[35]
From Greek, the word was borrowed into Italian and medieval Latin, and onwards into French. Early forms include:[35]
Melanzāna, recorded in Sicilian in the twelfth century.
Melongena, recorded in Latin in the thirteenth century.
Melongiana, recorded in Veronese in the fourteenth century.
From these forms came the botanical Latin melongēna. This was used by Tournefort as a genus name in 1700, then by Linnaeus as a species name in 1753. It remains in scientific use.[35]
The Italian melanzana, through folk-etymology, was adapted to mela insana ('mad apple'): already by the thirteenth century, this name had given rise to a tradition that eggplants could cause insanity. Translated into English as 'mad-apple',[39] 'rage-apple', or 'raging apple', this name for eggplants is attested from 1578 and the form 'mad-apple' may still be found in Southern American English.[40]
Other English names
The plant is also known as guinea squash in Southern American English. The term guinea in the name originally denoted the fact that the fruits were associated with West Africa, specifically the region that is now the modern day country Guinea.[40]
It has been known as 'Jew's apple',[39][41] apparently in relation to a belief that the fruit was first imported to the West Indies by Jewish people.[41]
Three cultivars of eggplant, showing size, shape, and color differences
Different cultivars of the plant produce fruit of different size, shape, and color, though typically purple. The less common white varieties of eggplant are also known as Easter white eggplants, garden eggs, Casper or white eggplant. The most widely cultivated varieties—cultivars—in Europe and North America today are elongated ovoid, 12–25cm (4+1⁄2–10in) long and 6–9cm (2+1⁄2–3+1⁄2in) broad with a dark purple skin.
A much wider range of shapes, sizes, and colors is grown in India and elsewhere in Asia. Larger cultivars weighing up to a kilogram (2.2 pounds) grow in the region between the Ganges and Yamuna Rivers, while smaller ones are found elsewhere.[citation needed] Colors vary from white to yellow or green, as well as reddish-purple and dark purple. Some cultivars have a color gradient—white at the stem, to bright pink, deep purple or even black. Green or purple cultivars with white striping also exist. Chinese cultivars are commonly shaped like a narrower, slightly pendulous cucumber. Also, Asian cultivars of Japanese breeding are grown.
Oval or elongated oval-shaped and black-skinned cultivars include 'Harris Special Hibush', 'Burpee Hybrid', 'Bringal Bloom', 'Black Magic', 'Classic', 'Dusky', and 'Black Beauty'.
Slim cultivars in purple-black skin include 'Little Fingers', 'Ichiban', 'Pingtung Long', and 'Tycoon'
In green skin, 'Louisiana Long Green' and 'Thai (Long) Green'
In white skin, 'Dourga'.
Traditional, white-skinned, egg-shaped cultivars include 'Casper' and 'Easter Egg'.
Bicolored cultivars with color gradient include 'Rosa Bianca', 'Violetta di Firenze', 'Bianca Sfumata di Rosa' (heirloom), and 'Prosperosa' (heirloom).
Bicolored cultivars with striping include 'Listada de Gandia' and 'Udumalapet'.
In some parts of India, miniature cultivars, most commonly called baigan, are popular.
Varieties
S. m. var. esculentum – common aubergine, including white varieties, with many cultivars[42]
On 9 February 2010, the Environment Ministry of India imposed a moratorium on the cultivation of Bt brinjal after protests against regulatory approval of cultivated Bt brinjal in 2009, stating the moratorium would last "for as long as it is needed to establish public trust and confidence".[43] This decision was deemed controversial, as it deviated from previous practices with other genetically modified crops in India.[45] Bt brinjal was approved for commercial cultivation in Bangladesh in 2013.[46]
Raw eggplant can have a bitter taste, with an astringent quality, but it becomes tender when cooked and develops a rich, complex flavor. Rinsing, draining, and salting the sliced fruit before cooking may remove the bitterness.[47] The fruit is capable of absorbing cooking fats and sauces, which may enhance the flavor of eggplant dishes.
Eggplant is used in the cuisines of many countries. Due to its texture and bulk, it is sometimes used as a meat substitute in vegan and vegetarian cuisines.[48] Eggplant flesh is smooth. Its numerous seeds are small, soft and edible, along with the rest of the fruit, and do not have to be removed. Its thin skin is also edible, and so it does not have to be peeled. However, the green part at the top, the calyx, does have to be removed when preparing an eggplant for cooking.
Eggplant can be steamed, stir-fried, pan fried, deep fried, barbecued, roasted, stewed, curried, or pickled. Many eggplant dishes are sauces made by mashing the cooked fruit. It can be stuffed. It is frequently, but not always, cooked with oil or fat.
East Asia
Korean and Japanese eggplant varieties are typically thin-skinned.[49]
In Chinese cuisine, eggplants are known as qiézi (茄子). They are often deep fried and made into dishes such as yúxiāng-qiézi ("fish fragrance eggplant")[50] or di sān xiān ("three earthen treasures"). Elsewhere in China, such as in Yunnan cuisine (in particular the cuisine of the Dai people) they are barbecued or roasted, then split and either eaten directly with garlic, chilli, oil and coriander, or the flesh is removed and pounded to a mash (typically with a wooden pestle and mortar) before being eaten with rice or other dishes.
In Japanese cuisine, eggplants are known as nasu or nasubi and use the same characters as Chinese (茄子). An example of it use is in the dish hasamiyaki (挟み焼き) in which slices of eggplant are grilled and filled with a meat stuffing.[51] Eggplants also feature in several Japanese expression and proverbs, such as "Don't feed autumn eggplant to your wife" (秋茄子は嫁に食わすな, akinasu wa yome ni kuwasuna) (because their lack of seeds will reduce her fertility) and "Always listen to your parents" (親の意見と茄子の花は千に一つも無駄はない, oya no iken to nasu no hana wa sen ni hitotsu mo muda wa nai, literally: "not even one in a thousand of one's parents' opinions or the eggplant flowers is in vain").[52][53]
In the Philippines, eggplants are of the long and slender purple variety. They are known as talong and is widely used in many stew and soup dishes, like pinakbet.[56] However the most popular eggplant dish is tortang talong, an omelette made from grilling an eggplant, dipping it into beaten eggs, and pan-frying the mixture. The dish is characteristically served with the stalk attached. The dish has several variants, including rellenong talong which is stuffed with meat and vegetables.[57][58] Eggplant can also be grilled, skinned and eaten as a salad called ensaladang talong.[59] Another popular dish is adobong talong, which is diced eggplant prepared with vinegar, soy sauce, and garlic as an adobo.[60]
Indonesian chili terong sauce with shrimp
Minang (West Sumatra) balado terong
Sweet and sour fish head with terong
Simple fried terong from Gorontalo (Sulawesi)
Philippine ensaladang talong, a salad on grilled and skinned green eggplant
South Asia
Eggplant is widely used in its native India, for example in sambar (a tamarind lentil stew), dalma (a dal preparation with vegetables, native to Odisha), chutney, curry (vankai[61]), and achaar (a pickled dish). Owing to its versatile nature and wide use in both everyday and festive Indian food, it is often described as the "king of vegetables". Roasted, skinned, mashed, mixed with onions, tomatoes, and spices, and then slow cooked gives the South Asian dish baingan bharta or gojju, similar to salată de vinete in Romania. Another version of the dish, begun-pora (eggplant charred or burnt), is very popular in Bangladesh and the east Indian states of Odisha and West Bengal where the pulp of the vegetable is mixed with raw chopped shallot, green chilies, salt, fresh coriander, and mustard oil. Sometimes fried tomatoes and deep-fried potatoes are also added, creating a dish called begun bhorta. In a dish from Maharashtra called bharli vangi, small brinjals are stuffed with ground coconut, peanuts, onions, tamarind, jaggery and masala spices, and then cooked in oil. Maharashtra and the adjacent state of Karnataka also have an eggplant-based vegetarian pilaf called 'vangi bhat' [62]..
Brinjal masala fry
Brinjal and mango sambar
Middle East and the Mediterranean
Eggplant is often stewed, as in the French ratatouille, or deep-fried as in the Italianparmigiana di melanzane, the Turkish karnıyarık, or Turkish, Greek, and Levantinemusakka/moussaka, and Middle Eastern and South Asian dishes. Eggplants can also be battered before deep-frying and served with a sauce made of tahini and tamarind. In Iranian cuisine, it is blended with whey as kashk e bademjan, tomatoes as mirza ghassemi, or made into stew as khoresht-e-bademjan. It can be sliced and deep-fried, then served with plain yogurt (optionally topped with a tomato and garlic sauce), such as in the Turkish dishpatlıcan kızartması (meaning fried aubergines), or without yogurt, as in patlıcan şakşuka. Perhaps the best-known Turkish eggplant dishes are imam bayıldı (vegetarian) and karnıyarık (with minced meat). It may also be roasted in its skin until charred, so the pulp can be removed and blended with other ingredients, such as lemon, tahini, and garlic, as in the Levantinebaba ghanoush,Greekmelitzanosalata, Moroccan zaalouk[63] and Romanian salată de vinete.[64][65] A mix of roasted eggplant, roasted red peppers, chopped onions, tomatoes, mushrooms, carrots, celery, and spices is called zacuscă in Romania, and ajvar or pinjur in the Balkans.
A Spanish dish called escalivada in Catalonia calls for strips of roasted aubergine, sweet pepper, onion, and tomato. In Andalusia, eggplant is mostly cooked thinly sliced, deep-fried in olive oil and served hot with honey (berenjenas a la Cordobesa). In the La Mancha region of central Spain, a small eggplant is pickled in vinegar, paprika, olive oil, and red peppers. The result is berenjena of Almagro, Ciudad Real. A Levantine specialty is makdous, another pickling of eggplants, stuffed with red peppers and walnuts in olive oil. Eggplant can be hollowed out and stuffed with meat, rice, or other fillings, and then baked. In Georgia, for example, it is fried and stuffed with walnut paste to make nigvziani badrijani.[39]
In medieval Spain, eggplant, along with ingredients such as Swiss chard and chickpeas, was closely associated with Jewish cuisine.[66] The Kitāb al-Ṭabikh, a 13th-century Andalusian cookbook, features eggplant as the main ingredient in fifteen out of its nineteen vegetable dishes, indicating its significance in the local cuisine at the time.[67] Jewish communities in Spain prepared eggplant in various ways, including in dishes like almodrote, a casserole of eggplant and cheese. This dish and others became identifiers for Jews during their expulsion from Spain and the Inquisition, and they were carried by the expelled Jews to their new homes in the Ottoman Empire.[66] The classic Judaeo-Spanish song "Siete modos de gizar la berendgena" lists various methods of preparing eggplant that persisted among Jews in the Ottoman Empire.[66][68] Today, eggplant remains a defining ingredient of Sephardic Jewish cuisine.[69]
In Iranian cuisine, eggplant (called bādenjān or bādemjān in Persian) can be used in both appetizers and main courses.[70] It can also be pickled in vinegar.[70] The ideal eggplant in Iranian cuisine is long, straight, firm, and black.[70] Based on how al-Razi uses the color of eggplant as a shorthand for purpleness in his Kitab al-hawi, it can be assumed that the dark purple kind of eggplant was the widely grown variety in Iran at his time (9th century).[70] Its importance in Iran is alluded to in the Ain-i-Akbari of Abu'l-Fazl ibn Mubarak, which says "this vegetable is on sale in the markets in Iran all the year round and in such abundance that it is sold for 1.5 dams per seer" (which was a cheap price at that time).[70]
In Iran, unlike places like Greece, Turkey, and North Africa, eggplant is cooked peeled and usually seasoned with cinnamon or especially turmeric.[70] Most eggplant dishes are classified as nankhoreshi (eaten with bread), and they are commonly served as snacks alongside alcoholic beverages.[70]
The 14th-century poet Boshaq At'ema refers to an early eggplant dish called burani-e badenjan: chopped eggplant sautéed with onions and turmeric, then slowly cooked, and finally mixed with yogurt.[70] The combination of eggplant and kashk (condensed whey) is popular in Iranian cuisine; it is found in dishes like kashk o badenjan as well as ash-e kashk o badenjan (involving layers of sautéed eggplant, grilled onions, and red beans topped by kashk seasoned with turmeric).[70] Another eggplant dish is mast o badenjan, also known as nazkhatun in Tehran, which involves eggplant, yogurt, and dried mint.[70] Eggplant can also be cooked in stews (khoreshes), either with lamb (khoresh-e badenjan) or with chicken and either unripe grapes or pomegranate juice (mosamma-ye badenjan).[70] Variants of ab-gusht, eshkana, fesenjan, and kuku also make use of eggplant.[70] Some regional dishes involving eggplant include badenjan-polow, a dish mainly from Fars and Kerman that combines white rice with a paste of chopped sautéed eggplant, chopped meat, and spices; as well as the northern Iranian badenjan-e qasemi, a casserole using grilled eggplant, garlic, tomatoes, and eggs.[70]
Eggplants are traditionally among the foods that get preserved and stored for winter in Iran.[70] They are selected in the last month of summer, when they are most readily available, then peeled, and finally preserved in one of two ways.[70] In the first way, the peeled eggplants are cut, salted, and left to "sweat" (to make them less bilious); then they are sun-dried by hanging them on a line.[70] The dried eggplants are then rehydrated 24 hours before being cooked.[70] In the second way, the peeled eggplants are cooked in oil, put in a copper pot, and finally covered with plenty of hot oil, "which congeals to seal them".[70]
Medieval Iranian writers such as al-Razi and al-Biruni cautioned that eggplant contains harmful qualities, and it must be ripe and cooked before eating to neutralize them.[70] They wrote that it could cause heat and dryness and an excess of black bile, contributing to a wide range of health problems.[70] If the "salt" in it was removed, or it was cooked in oil or vinegar, then they wrote that eggplant gained healthy attributes.[70] Present-day Iranian attitudes to the eggplant reflect this medical tradition's influence: the eggplant is "considered rather dangerous... a cook in Tehran will say that the poison must be taken out".[70] People also use eggplant seeds as an expectorant to relieve asthma and catarrh.[70]
Raw eggplant is 92% water, 6% carbohydrates, 1% protein, and has negligible fat (table). It provides low amounts of essential nutrients, with only manganese having a moderate percentage (10%) of the Daily Value. Minor changes in nutrient composition occur with season, environment of cultivation (open field or greenhouse), and genotype.[73]
Cultivation and pests
In tropical and subtropical climates, eggplant can be sown in the garden. Eggplant grown in temperate climates fares better when transplanted into the garden after all danger of frost has passed. Eggplant prefers hot weather, and when grown in cold climates or in areas with low humidity, the plants languish or fail to set and produce mature fruit.[74][75] Seeds are typically started eight to 10 weeks prior to the anticipated frost-free date. S. melongena is included on a list of low flammability plants, indicating that it is suitable for growing within a building protection zone.[76]
Spacing should be 45 to 60cm (18 to 24in) between plants, depending on cultivar, and 60 to 90cm (24 to 35in) between rows, depending on the type of cultivation equipment being used. Mulching helps conserve moisture and prevent weeds and fungal diseases and the plants benefit from some shade during the hottest part of the day. Hand pollination by shaking the flowers improves the set of the first blossoms. Growers typically cut fruits from the vine just above the calyx owing to the somewhat woody stems. Flowers are complete, containing both female and male structures, and may be self- or cross-pollinated.[77]
Many of the pests and diseases that afflict other solanaceous plants, such as tomato, capsicum, and potato, are also troublesome to eggplants. For this reason, it should generally not be planted in areas previously occupied by its close relatives. However, since eggplants can be particularly susceptible to pests such as whiteflies, they are sometimes grown with slightly less susceptible plants, such as chili pepper, as a sacrificial trap crop. Four years should separate successive crops of eggplants to reduce pest pressure.[78]
The potato tuber moth (Phthorimaea operculella) is an oligophagous insect that prefers to feed on plants of the family Solanaceae such as eggplants. Female P. operculella use the leaves to lay their eggs and the hatched larvae will eat away at the mesophyll of the leaf.[80]
Case reports of itchy skin or mouth, mild headache, and stomach upset after handling or eating eggplant have been reported anecdotally and published in medical journals (see also oral allergy syndrome).[84] A 2021 review indicated that possibly four interacting mechanisms may elicit an allergic response from consuming eggplant: lipid transfer protein, profilin, polyphenol oxidase, and pollen reactions.[84][85]
A 2008 study of a sample of 741 people in India, where eggplant is commonly consumed, found nearly 10% reported some allergic symptoms after consuming eggplant, with 1.4% showing symptoms within two hours.[86] Contact dermatitis from eggplant leaves and allergy to eggplant flower pollen have also been reported.[87][88]
Individuals who are atopic (genetically predisposed to developing certain allergic hypersensitivity reactions) are more likely to have a reaction to eggplant, which may be because eggplant is high in histamines.[84] Cooking eggplant thoroughly seems to preclude reactions in some individuals, but some of the allergenic proteins may survive the cooking process.
Taxonomy
Segmented purple eggplant
The eggplant is quite often featured in the older scientific literature under the junior synonymsS. ovigerum and S. trongum. Several other names that are now invalid have been uniquely applied to it:[89]
Melongena ovataMill.
Solanum albumNoronha
Solanum insanumL.
Solanum longumRoxb.
Solanum melanocarpumDunal
Solanum melongenumSt.-Lag.
Solanum oviferumSalisb.
PrachiSalisb.
A number of subspecies and varieties have been named, mainly by Dikii, Dunal, and (invalidly) by Sweet. Names for various eggplant types, such as agreste, album, divaricatum, esculentum, giganteum, globosi, inerme, insanum, leucoum, luteum, multifidum, oblongo-cylindricum, ovigera, racemiflorum, racemosum, ruber, rumphii, sinuatorepandum, stenoleucum, subrepandum, tongdongense, variegatum, violaceum, viride, are not considered to refer to anything more than cultivar groups at best. However, Solanum incanum and cockroach berry (S. capsicoides), other eggplant-like nightshades described by Linnaeus and Allioni, respectively, were occasionally considered eggplant varieties, but this is not correct.[89]
The eggplant has a long history of taxonomic confusion with the scarlet and Ethiopian eggplants (Solanum aethiopicum), known as gilo and nakati, respectively, and described by Linnaeus as S. aethiopicum. The eggplant was sometimes considered a variety violaceum of that species. S. violaceum of de Candolle applies to Linnaeus' S. aethiopicum. An actual S. violaceum, an unrelated plant described by Ortega, included Dunal's S. amblymerum and was often confused with the same author's S. brownii.[89]
Like the potato and S. lichtensteinii, but unlike the tomato, which then was generally put in a different genus, the eggplant was also described as S. esculentum, in this case once more in the course of Dunal's work. He also recognized the varieties aculeatum, inerme, and subinerme at that time. Similarly, H.C.F. Schuhmacher and Peter Thonning named the eggplant as S. edule, which is also a junior synonym of sticky nightshade (S. sisymbriifolium). Scopoli's S. zeylanicum refers to the eggplant, and that of Blanco to S. lasiocarpum.[89]
Turkish cuisine is the cuisine of Turkey and the Turkish diaspora. The cuisine took its current form after numerous cultural interactions throughout centuries, descending from earlier stages of Turkish cuisine, Ottoman cuisine and Seljuk cuisine. Turkish cuisine with traditional Turkic elements such as yogurt, ayran, kaymak, exerts and gains influences to and from Mediterranean, Balkan, Middle Eastern, Central Asian and Eastern European cuisines.
Solanum is a large and diverse genus of flowering plants, which include three food crops of high economic importance: the potato, the tomato and the eggplant. It is the largest genus in the nightshade family Solanaceae, comprising around 1,500 species. It also contains the so-called horse nettles, as well as numerous plants cultivated for their ornamental flowers and fruit.
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Moussaka is an eggplant (aubergine)- or potato-based dish, often including ground meat, which is common in the Balkans and the Middle East, with many local and regional variations.
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Chayote or Sicyos edulis, also known as christophine, mirliton and choko, is an edible plant belonging to the gourd family, Cucurbitaceae. This fruit was first cultivated in Mesoamerica between southern Mexico and Honduras, with the most genetic diversity available in both Mexico and Guatemala. It is one of several foods introduced to the Old World during the Columbian Exchange. At that time, the plant spread to other parts of the Americas, ultimately causing it to be integrated into the cuisine of many Latin American nations.
Tamil cuisine is a culinary style of Tamil people originating in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu and neighboring Sri Lanka. Meats, along with rice, legumes, and lentils, are popular. Dairy products and tamarind are used to provide sour flavors. On special occasions, traditional Tamil dishes are served in a traditional manner, using banana leaves in place of utensils. After eating, the banana leaves are then used as a secondary food for cattle. A typical breakfast meal consists of idli or dosa with chutney. Lunch includes rice, sambar, curd, kuzhambu, and rasam.
Solanum aethiopicum, the bitter tomato, Ethiopian eggplant, or nakati, is a fruiting plant of the genus Solanum mainly found in Asia and Tropical Africa. It is also known as Ethiopian nightshade, garden eggs, pumpkin-on-a-stick, and mock tomato. It is a popular vegetable in north-east India, and is known as khamen akhaba in Manipuri and samṭawk in Mizo. They are called Titay bii or simply bii in Darjeeling, Sikkim and Nepal, and are relished with meat, particularly pork. These names are a result of its varied morphology, with ripe fruit often looking like a cross between an eggplant and a tomato, which are also from Solanum. In fact, the Ethiopian eggplant was so much confused with the ordinary eggplant that this was considered by some a variety violaceum of S. aethiopicum.
Iraqi cuisine is a Middle Eastern cuisine that has its origins in the ancient Near East culture of the fertile crescent. Tablets found in ancient ruins in Iraq show recipes prepared in the temples during religious festivals—the first cookbooks in the world. Ancient Iraq's cultural sophistication extended to the culinary arts.
Dinengdeng is a dish of the Ilocano people of the Philippines, similar to pinakbet. It is classified as a bagoong soup-based dish. Unlike pinakbet, dinengdeng contains fewer vegetables more soup base.
Caponata is a Sicilian dish consisting of chopped fried eggplant/aubergine and other vegetables, seasoned with olive oil, tomato sauce, celery, olives, and capers, in an agrodolce sauce.
Ratatouille is a French Provençal dish of stewed vegetables that originated in Nice and is sometimes referred to as ratatouille niçoise. Recipes and cooking times differ widely, but common ingredients include tomato, garlic, onion, courgette (zucchini), aubergine, capsicum, and some combination of leafy green herbs common to the region, such as chives or fennel.
Many cuisines feature eggplant salads and appetizers.
Fried eggplant, or fried aubergine, is featured in dishes of many different cuisines.
Solanum macrocarpon otherwise known as the African eggplant : añara), Surinamese eggplant or Vietnamese eggplant is a plant of the family Solanaceae. S. macrocarpon is a tropical perennial plant that is closely related to the eggplant. S. macrocarpon originated from West Africa, but is now widely distributed in Central and East Africa. The plant also grows in the Caribbean, South America, and some parts of Southeast Asia. S. macrocarpon is widely cultivated for its use as a food, its medicinal purposes, and as an ornamental plant.
Solanum virginianum, also called Surattense nightshade, yellow-fruit nightshade, yellow-berried nightshade, Indian nightshade,Thai green eggplant, or Thai striped eggplant, is a medicinal plant used mostly in India. Some parts of the plant, such as the fruit, are poisonous. Solanum surattense Burm. f. and Solanum xanthocarpum Schrad. and Wendl. are synonyms of Solanum virginianum L..
Eggplant is a species of nightshade grown for its edible fruit.
Tortang talong, also known as eggplant omelette, is an omelette or fritter from Filipino cuisine made by pan-frying grilled whole eggplants dipped in an egg mixture. It is a popular breakfast and lunch meal in the Philippines. A common variant of tortang talong is rellenong talong, which is stuffed with meat, seafood, and/or vegetables.
↑ Tsao and Lo in "Vegetables: Types and Biology". Handbook of Food Science, Technology, and Engineering by Yiu H. Hui (2006). CRC Press. ISBN1-57444-551-0.
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↑ Foundation, Encyclopaedia Iranica. "Welcome to Encyclopaedia Iranica". iranicaonline.org. Retrieved 22 April 2021. The plant is native to South Asia and was domesticated in India. It was brought to the Iranian lands at a very early but indeterminable date.
↑ Trujilo, Linda (25 January 2003), "The Elegant Eggplant", Master Gardener Journal, archived from the original on 4 December 2016, retrieved 16 September 2018
↑ Dunlop, Fuchsia (2006), Revolutionary Chinese Cookbook: Recipes from Hunan Province, Ebury Press, p.202
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↑ National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine; Health and Medicine Division; Food and Nutrition Board; Committee to Review the Dietary Reference Intakes for Sodium and Potassium (2019). "Chapter 4: Potassium: Dietary Reference Intakes for Adequacy". In Oria, Maria; Harrison, Meghan; Stallings, Virginia A. (eds.). Dietary Reference Intakes for Sodium and Potassium. The National Academies Collection: Reports funded by National Institutes of Health. Washington, DC: National Academies Press (US). pp.120–121. doi:10.17226/25353. ISBN978-0-309-48834-1. PMID30844154. Retrieved 5 December 2024.
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