Eggplant Eggplant Eggplant (US), aubergine (UK), or brinjal (South Asia and South Africa ) is a plant species in the nightshade family Solanaceae, "Solanum melongena", grown for its often purple edible fruit. The spongy, absorbent fruit of the plant is widely used in cooking in many different cuisines, and is often considered a vegetable, even though it is a berry by botanical definition. As a member of the genus "Solanum", it is related to the tomato and the potato. Like the tomato, its skin and seeds can be eaten, but, like the potato, it is not advisable to eat it raw.
Fruit anatomy like the berry most of the pericarp is fleshy but the endocarp is cartilaginous, an apple is an example of a pome. Lastly, drupes are known for being one seeded with a fleshy mesocarp, an example of this would be the peach. However, there are fruits were the fleshy portion is developed from tissues that are not the ovary, such as in the strawberry. The edible part of the strawberry is formed from the receptacle of the flower. Due, to this difference the strawberry is known as a false fruit or an accessory fruit. There is a shared method of