Fun Eggplant Facts A Taste Of Eggplant

fun eggplant facts

juels 15 years ago

Eggplant is a fruit - a berry, in fact. It is related to tomato and potato, which are also, technically, not vegetables.
Thare are actually male and female eggplants.Male ones have more seeds(that makes sense) and have shallow, round indents on their bottoms. On female bottoms the indent is deeper and more like a line. Next time you go shopping, I bet you won't look at the eggplant the same way again!
A black dye can be made from the skin of purple eggplant. At one time in the Orient, it was fashionable for women to use this dye to stain their teeth. Beautiful!
The British and French use the word "aubergine", instead of eggplant.

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jimrug1 15 years ago said:

Good job Julia,

You are quite right. And in fact most of the world refer to eggplant as Aubergines. Eggplant skins were also (and still are in remote areas) used to dye wool yarn for Oriental rugs and other textiles.

The Greek word for eggplant is MELITZA'NA ...
The Lebanese word for eggplant is BATINJAN

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ronnymarcus 15 years ago said:

Apart from "eggplant" and "aubergine", it is also known as Brinjal in many countries.
As I mentioned in my recipe, (above), In the middle east, no meal is complete without a few eggplant salads. Offhand, I can think of 8 different types.
Before Soybeans, (SOYA), became known, it was also used as a substitute for meat. There is even a recipe for "Chopped Liver" without liver.

jimrug1 !
Thanks for mentioning about using it as a dye. In biblical times it was used as a dye for Jewish "prayer-shawls". Rich people used the dye from a squid.

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trigger 15 years ago said:

Well thank you for the information I knew about the resemblance and off white color to an egg giving the modern name eggplant. I have found eggplant to be interesting and try to have it as many ways as possible. Each year I test out another species of eggplant in my garden along with my standard purple or black beauty as it is referred to even though the skin is not black.

Do you have any favorite types to suggest to me for next years garden?

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juels 15 years ago said:

Chinese eggplants were really hardy and easy to grow when my husband planted them. We got quite a harvest of those things!

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jimrug1 15 years ago said:

I am partial to the "Cloud Nine" variety. It has snow white skin and low acid. The small ones are perfect for stuffing.

I am also a fan of the Chinese eggplants. and the small Indian varieties.

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trigger 15 years ago said:

Thank you Julia and Jim I will try Chinese and Cloud Nine next year.
Thank you Ronny for your fun facts and history. Please post some more of your eggplant recipes.

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jimrug1 15 years ago said:

Here is an abstract for a pattent that was filed for in 2006. I found it rather interesting. If you want to read all the clames, follow the link below the article.

An extract is made by cooking the fruit of an eggplant for about 15 to 30 minutes at about 120 to about 250° C., extracting the juice from the cooked fruit, and adding an oxidant to the juice that reacts with a component in it and changes its color from beige to black. Eggplants such as the Chinese eggplant and oxidants such as ferrous salts, such as ferrous sulfate, work particularly well. The extract can be formulated into various types of products, including pills, tablets, capsules, suppositories, foams, lotions, creams, and enema liquids. The products may be used for treating a variety of medical conditions, including gastrointestinal inflammation, hemorrhoids, skin inflammation, and other problems.

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/7341751.html

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juels 15 years ago said:

Wow, how fascinating! I did not know that! I guess, we need to eat more eggplant, we'll have less health issues.

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