Eggplant

Abstract

Eggplant, brinjal or aubergine (Solanum melongena L.) is together with tomato among the most widely known edible fruits of the Solanaceae family (Daunay, 2008). Eggplants are thought to be derived from the wild African species, Solanum incanum. The scarlet eggplant (Solanum aethiopicum L.) and the gboma eggplant (Solanum macrocarpon L.), grown and consumed in Africa and represent an important source of genetic variation (Daunay et al., 2001b). Eggplants were already domesticated in Southeast Asia, particularly in Northeast India and southeast China more than 2000 years ago (Sekara et al., 2007). Historical, morphological, and molecular evidence suggests that the Indochinese region is the primary center of diversity of S. melongena (MuñozFalcón et al., 2009). The species was then introduced in Europe through Spain from where it spread to New World (Prohens et al., 2005).