The Eggplant is a Relative of the Potato and Probably Originated in India in Ancient Times
however, it didn’t appear in Europe until the fourteenth century and in the Americas until the seventeenth century. Thomas Jefferson first brought it to the United States from France. The edible part of the plant is a large pear-shaped fruit that is a berry. Most eggplants, also known by their French name aubergine, are deep purple, although yellowish white cultivars are sometimes available. The purple ones are marketed year round in most areas. Choose fruits that are firm, heavy, free of scars, and deeply colored (if purple). Small, slender eggplants have smaller seeds are sweeter and more tender, but the larger ones are more practical for dishes in which the eggplant is peeled, and/or sliced. Eggplants can be stored at room temperature or in the refrigerator for a week.

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Eggplant Contains High Levels of an Antioxidant Compound that May Protect the Body's Cells
against oxidative damage, according to studies by two Agricultural Research Service scientists. They found that chlorogenic acid, one of the most powerful antioxidants produced in plant tissues, was the predominant phenolic compound in nearly all the samples analyzed.

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Scientists Get Under Eggplant's Skin
Agricultural Research Service scientists recently made headway unlocking the secrets of Black Magic-a commercial eggplant cultivar representative of U.S. market types. Apparently, when horticulturists named it, they were onto something. Turns out the variety has nearly three times the amount of antioxidant phenolics found in other eggplant cultivars that were studied.

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Everyone Knows What an Eggplant Is...Right?
Most people have probably tasted an eggplant. You may have been in an Italian restaurant where chefs use the purplish fruit (like a tomato, it is botanically classified as a fruit) in the popular dish eggplant parmesan.

But maybe the eggplant used wasn't purple. Maybe it wasn't even teardrop shaped. Eggplants come in hundreds of shapes and colors. But the fruit probably got its name because some small-fruited, white-pigmented eggplant varieties look like chicken eggs.

Griffin, Georgia, is home to USDA's eggplant collection, which includes 770 different accessions collected from around the world. While nontraditional ones may not be available at most grocery stores, they are often found in gourmet and ethnic food stores and local farmers' markets.

Flowers of eggplant are similar to those of potato and tomato. All three plants are solanaceous species.
Eggplant is much more popular outside the United States, particularly in India (where the first eggplants supposedly grew) and other Asian countries. In India, many people eat small, round eggplants. Some enjoy eggplant cooked and served with other vegetables as part of a medley. Others enjoy the popular dish of eggplant curry. Different ethnicities prefer different varieties, depending on how bitter they like the fruit to taste.

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