Little leaf of brinjal Little leaf of brinjal Little leaf of brinjal or eggplant ("Solanum melongena" L.) is one of the most serious diseases of brinjal in the areas of its cultivation. Little leaf of brinjal is known to cause heavy economic losses in India. As the name indicates, symptoms of the disease include shortening of the petioles and production of leaves which are much smaller in size. Petioles are so short that leaves seem to be glued to the stem. They become soft and glabrous and somewhat yellow in colour. Affected plants do not bear any flowers or fruits if infection is in
Vegetable meaning then being "the edible part of such a plant". A more precise definition is "any plant part consumed for food that is not a fruit or seed, but including mature fruits that are eaten as part of a main meal". Falling outside these definitions are edible fungi (such as edible mushrooms) and edible seaweed which, although not parts of plants, are often treated as vegetables. In the latter-mentioned definition of "vegetable", which is used in everyday language, the words "fruit" and "vegetable" are mutually exclusive. "Fruit" has a precise botanical meaning, being a part that developed from the ovary