Solanum aethiopicum | |
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Clade: | Asterids |
Order: | Solanales |
Family: | Solanaceae |
Genus: | Solanum |
Species: | S. aethiopicum |
Binomial name | |
Solanum aethiopicum | |
Solanum aethiopicum, the bitter tomato, Ethiopian eggplant, [1] or nakati, is a fruiting plant of the genus Solanum mainly found in Asia and Tropical Africa. It is also known as Ethiopian nightshade, [2] garden eggs, pumpkin-on-a-stick, [3] [4] 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.
Ethiopian eggplant may have originated from the domestication of Solanum anguivi . The scarlet eggplant , also known as Gilo or jiló, was long held to be a distinct species (S. gilo) but is nowadays generally considered to be a cultivar group of S. aethiopicum.
Ethiopian eggplant has been used as a source of disease resistance genes for several commercially grown Solanaceae crops, including Solanum melongena (eggplant). [5] A lack of genomic resources has meant that breeding has lagged behind other vegetables, although a 1.02-Gb draft genome has been sequenced by BGI, with single-nucleotide polymorphisms identified for use by breeders. [6]
The leaves of Solanum aethiopicum are eaten as a leaf vegetable and are actually more nutritious than the fruit.
The highly variable fruit of the plant is eaten both raw and cooked and is becoming more popular as a cultivated crop. These fruits are usually harvested while still green, before the skin becomes thick. Bitterness increases with higher levels of saponin in the fruit, some varieties being sweet and others very bitter. When the berries mature, they turn bright red because of high carotene content.
Solanum aethiopicum is used as an ornamental in Asia.
In Nigeria, Igbo people use it as a substitute for kola nut, especially for those who do not want to chew kola nut, in which case it is used to welcome guests at home or before resumption of a traditional ceremony.
Garden egg, as it is commonly known in Nigeria, is sometimes used to make a tomato-based sauce which can be used to eat yam.
Currently there is a large movement towards increased cultivation of Solanum aethiopicum in West Africa. It grows all year long and can produce high fruit yields. However, low germination rates are an obstacle to wider cultivation.
The only place where S. aethiopicum is grown to a significant extent in Europe lies in South Italy, in Rotonda in the Basilicata, where this plant is of some commercial importance. It was likely introduced by veterans returning from East Africa after the colonial war in the late 19th century.
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.
Eggplant, aubergine, brinjal, or baigan is a plant species in the nightshade family Solanaceae. Solanum melongena is grown worldwide for its edible fruit.
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.
The zucchini, courgette or baby marrow is a summer squash, a vining herbaceous plant whose fruit are harvested when their immature seeds and epicarp (rind) are still soft and edible. It is closely related, but not identical, to the marrow; its fruit may be called marrow when mature.
The tamarillo is a tree or shrub in the flowering plant family Solanaceae. It bears the tamarillo, an egg-shaped edible fruit. It is also known as the tree tomato, tomate de árbol, tomate andino, tomate serrano, blood fruit, poor man's tomato, tomate de yuca, tomate de españa, sachatomate, berenjena, chilto and tamamoro in South America, tyamtar, rambheda or rukh tamatar in Nepal, and terong Belanda in Indonesia. It is popular globally, especially in Peru, Colombia, New Zealand, Ecuador, Nepal, Rwanda, Burundi, Australia, and Bhutan.
Solanum mammosum, commonly known as nipplefruit, fox head, cow's udder, or apple of Sodom, is an inedible Pan-American tropical fruit. The plant is grown for ornamental purposes, in part because of the distal end of the fruit's resemblance to a human breast, while the proximal end looks like a cow's udder. It is an annual in the family Solanaceae, and part of the genus Solanum, making the plant a relative of the eggplant, tomato, and potato. This poisonous fruit is native to South America, but has been naturalized in Southern Mexico, Greater Antilles, Central America, and the Caribbean. The plant adapts well to most soils, but thrives in moist, loamy soil.
The scarlet eggplant is a fruiting plant of the genus Solanum, related to the tomato and eggplant. Its green fruit is known as gilo. It was once treated as a distinct species, Solanum gilo, but it is now known to be a cultivar group of Solanum aethiopicum.
Gilo can also refer to:
Solanum muricatum is a species of evergreen shrub native to South America and grown for its sweet edible fruit.
Solanum torvum, also known as pendejera, turkey berry, devil's fig, pea eggplant, platebrush or susumber, is a bushy, erect and spiny perennial plant used horticulturally as a rootstock for eggplant. Grafted plants are very vigorous and tolerate diseases affecting the root system, thus allowing the crop to continue for a second year.
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.
Bush tomatoes are the fruit or entire plants of certain nightshade (Solanum) species native to the more arid parts of Australia. While they are quite closely related to tomatoes, they might be even closer relatives of the eggplant, which they resemble in many details. There are 94 natives and 31 introduced species in Australia.
Spoon sweets are sweet preserves, served in a spoon as a gesture of hospitality in Bosnia, Serbia, Albania, Greece, Turkey, Kosovo, Cyprus, the Balkans, parts of the Middle East, and Russia. They can be made from almost any fruit, though sour and bitter fruits are especially prized. There are also spoon sweets produced without fruit.
The tomato, Solanum lycopersicum, is a plant whose fruit is an edible berry that is eaten as a vegetable. The tomato is a member of the nightshade family that includes tobacco, potato, and chili peppers. It originated from and was domesticated in western South America. It was introduced to the Old World by the Spanish in the Columbian exchange in the 16th century.
Most of the food items which define modern North Indian and Subcontinental cooking have origins inside the Indian subcontinent though many foods that are now a part of them are based on fruits and vegetables that originated outside the Indian subcontinent.
An acquired taste is an appreciation for something unlikely to be enjoyed by a person who has not had substantial exposure to it. It is the opposite of innate taste, which is the appreciation for things that are enjoyable by most people without prior exposure to them.
Solanum incanum is a species of nightshade, a flowering plant in the family Solanaceae. It is native to East Africa, West Africa, the Middle East, and eastwards to India. The species was introduced to Taiwan and Vietnam.
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..