Eggplant

Eggplant / Aubergine

Plant Info

Kingdom:	Plantae
Class:	Magnoliopsida
Sublass:	Asteridae
Order:	Solanales
Family:	Solanaceae
Genus:	Solanum
Species:	S. melongena

Binomial name

Solanum melongena
L.

The eggplant, aubergine, or brinjal (Solanum melongena) is a solanaceous plant bearing a fruit of the same name, commonly used as a vegetable in cooking. It is closely related to the tomato and potato and is native to southern India and Sri Lanka. It is an annual plant growing 40 - 150 cm tall (16 in - 57 in), often spiny, with large coarsely lobed leaves 10-20 cm long and 5-10 cm broad. The flowers are white to purple, with a five-lobed corolla and yellow stamens. The fruit is a fleshy berry, less than 3 cm in diameter on wild plants, but much larger in cultivated forms. The fruit contains numerous small, soft seeds. (Semi-)wild types can grow much larger, to 225 cm (84 in.) with large leaves over 30 cm long and 15 cm broad.

History

Solanum melongena, flower

The eggplant is an important food crop grown for its large, pendulous, purple or white fruit. It has been cultivated in southern and eastern Asian countries since prehistory but appears to have become known to the Western world no earlier than ca. 1500 CE. The numerous Arabic and North African names for it, along with the lack of ancient Greek and Roman names, indicate that it was introduced throughout the Mediterranean area by the Arabs who invaded Persia in the early Middle Ages. The scientific name Solanum melongena is derived from a 16th-century Arabic term for one kind of eggplant.

The name eggplant in the United States, Australia, and Canada developed from the fact that the fruits of some 18th-century European cultivars were yellow or white and resembled goose or hen's eggs. Aubergine is the British name given to this fruit, from the French aubergine, derived from Catalan albergínia; from Arabic al-bãdhinjãn الباذنجان, Persian بادنجان bâdinjân from Sanskrit vatinganah.

Because of the eggplant's relationship with the Solanaceae (nightshade) family, it was at one time believed to be poisonous.

Cultivated varieties

A purple eggplant which has been sliced in half, showing the inside. The flesh surrounding the seeds is already beginning to oxidize and turn brown just minutes after slicing.

The most widely grown cultivars in Europe and North America today are elongated ovoid, 12-25 cm long and 6-9 cm broad with a dark purple skin. A much wider range of shapes, sizes and colors is grown in India and elsewhere in Asia. There, cultivars that closely resemble a hen's egg in both size and shape are widely grown; colors vary from white to yellow or green as well as reddish-purple and dark purple. Some cultivars have a color gradient, from white at the stem to bright pink to deep purple, or even black, and green or purple cultivars with white striping also exist. Chinese eggplants are commonly shaped like a narrower, slightly pendulous cucumber.

Numerous other names are used, many derived from the Sanskrit vatinganah, which has given birth to a number of names for this plant in various languages and dialects: brinjal, badingan, melongena, melanzana, berenjena, albergínia, aubergine, brown-jolly, and mad-apple (a misinterpretation of the Italian melanzana as mela insana). [1]

Oval or elongated oval-shaped and black-skinned cultivars include: 'Harris Special Hibush', 'Burpee Hybrid', 'Black Magic', 'Classic', 'Dusky', and 'Black Beauty'.

Long, slim cultivars with purple-black skin include: 'Little Fingers', 'Pingtung Long' and 'Tycoon'; with green skin: 'Louisiana Long Green' and 'Thai (Long) Green'; with white skin: 'Dourga'.

Traditional, white-skinned, oval-shaped cultivars include 'Casper' and 'Easter Egg'.

Bicolored cultivars with color gradient include: 'Rosa Bianca', and 'Violetta di Firenze'.

Bicolored cultivars with striping include: 'Listada de Gandia' and 'Udumalapet'.

Matti Gulla or Matti brinjal is a unique variety of brinjal grown in the village of Matti in Udupi; it is light green in color and round in shape. Some brinjals of this variety weigh more than one kilogram.

Matti Gulla

Solanum melongena, fruit

Cookery

Melanzane alla Parmigiana, or Eggplant Parmesan (baked aubergines with Parmesan cheese).

The raw fruit can have a somewhat bitter taste but, when cooked, becomes tender and develops a rich, complex flavour. Salting and then rinsing the sliced eggplant will soften and remove much of the bitterness. This process is called degorging. Lightly sprinkling the slices with salt, and laying them out on a paper or cloth towel for 20-30 minutes will accomplish this. However, many modern varieties do not need this treatment as they are not that bitter. The eggplant is capable of absorbing large amounts of cooking fats and sauces, allowing for very rich dishes. On the other hand, if it is undesirable for the fruit to absorb a lot of oil, then the salting process will reduce this effect. The fruit flesh is smooth; as in the related tomato, the numerous seeds are soft and edible along with the rest of the fruit. The thin skin is also edible, so that the eggplant need not be peeled.

The eggplant is used in cuisines from Japan to Spain. It is often served stewed, as in the French ratatouille, the italian melanzane alla parmigiana, the Greek moussaka, and many South Asian dishes. It may also be roasted in its skin until charred, so that the pulp can be removed and blended with other ingredients, as in the Middle Eastern dish baba ghanouj and the similar Greek dish melitzanosalata. It can be sliced, battered, and deep-fried, then served with various sauces: yoghurt-based, tahini-based, or tamarind-based. The eggplant can also be stuffed with meat, rice, or other fillings and then baked. In the Caucasus for example, it is fried and stuffed with walnut paste to make nigvziani badrijani.

As a native plant, it is widely used in the South Indian cuisine, for example in sambhars, chutneys, curries, and kootus. Owing to its versatile nature and wide use, in both everyday and festive South Indian food, it is often described (under the name brinjal) as the 'King of Vegetables' in South India.

Peeled and roasted eggplant/brinjal, mixed with onions, tomatoes, and spices for flavor, makes up the Indian dish called Baingan ka bharta (also known as vangyacha bharta in Marathi).

Nutritionally, eggplants are low in energy (30kcal/100g), protein (1.2%) and vitamin C (5mg/100g), but rich in potassium and calcium.

Cultivation

In tropical and subtropical climates, the eggplant can be sown directly into the garden. Eggplant grown in temperate climates fares better when transplanted into the garden after all danger of frost is past. Seeds are typically started eight to ten weeks prior to the anticipated frost-free date.

Many pests and diseases which afflict other solanaceous vegetables, i.e. tomato, pepper (capsicum), potato, etc. are also troublesome to eggplants. For this reason, it should not be planted in areas previously occupied by its close relatives. Four years should separate successive crops of eggplants. Common North American pests include the potato beetle, flea beetle, aphids and spider mites. Many of these can be controlled using Bacillus thurengensis (Bt), a bacterium that attacks the soft-bodied larvae. (Adults can be removed by hand, though flea beetles can be especially difficult to control.) Good sanitation and crop-rotation practices are extremely important for controlling fungal disease, the most serious of which in the aubergine is Verticillium.

Spacing should be 45 cm (18 in) to 60 cm (24 in) between plants, depending on cultivar, and 60 cm (24 in) to 90 cm (36 in) between rows, depending on the type of cultivation equipment being used. Mulching will help conserve moisture and prevent weeds and fungal diseases. The flowers are relatively unattractive to bees and the first blossoms often do not set fruit. Hand pollination will improve the set of the first blossoms. Fruits are typically cut from the vine just above the calyx owing to the semi-woody stems.