Eggplant Day: What Are the Origins of Eggplant?

August 17^th marks Eggplant Day worldwide, a vegetable (actually a fruit) used in many cuisines all over the world with great nutritional value.

Eggplant's scientific name is far from its common name and goes by Solanum melongena, Solanum integrifolium, and Solanum gilo.

However, cultures have different names for eggplant some include eggfruit, aubergine, brinjal, tomato-fruited eggplant, gilos, guinea squash, mad apple, and nasubi.

But where does Eggplant originate from?

What we didn’t know is that Eggplant is a member of the same family as tomatoes, potatoes, and peppers, the Solanaceae.

The origin of the fruit is India where it grows wildely. It has been cultivated throughout India and China for more than 1500 year.

Arabs were the first to transport eggplant to Europe while Persians were first to transport it to Africa as trade routes opened.

The Spaniards carried it with them to the New World and, by the early 1800s, both white and purple varieties could be found in American gardens.

"A 5th Century Chinese book contains one of the oldest references to eggplant. A black dye was made from the plant, and ladies of fashion used it to stain their teeth - which, when polished, gleamed like metal." According to the American Horticultural Society Encyclopedia of Gardening – Vegetables.

So how do you prefer to eat eggplant?