Does any one have any experience growing or have any info on growing eggplants and aubergines, Preferably in commercial quantities

Also are these 2 vegetables the same and what else are they referred to in other countries

Thanks....

deejay, I can help with the second part of your question.

The aubergine, eggplant, or brinjal (Solanum melongena) is a solanaceous plant bearing a fruit of the same name, commonly used as a vegetable in cooking. It is closely related to the tomato and potato and is native to southern India and Sri Lanka. It is an annual plant growing 40 - 150 cm tall (16 in - 57 in), often spiny, with large coarsely lobed leaves 10-20 cm long and 5-10 cm broad. The flowers are white to purple, with a five-lobed corolla and yellow stamens. The fruit is a fleshy berry, less than 3 cm in diameter on wild plants, but much larger in cultivated forms. The fruit contains numerous small, soft seeds. (Semi-)wild types can grow much larger, to 225 cm (84 in.) with large leaves over 30 cm long and 15 cm broad.


The aubergine is an important food crop grown for its large pendulous purple or white fruit. It has been cultivated in southern and eastern Asian countries since prehistory, but appears to have become known to the Western world no earlier than around 1500. The numerous Arabic and North African names for it, and the lack of ancient Greek and Roman names, indicate that it was carried throughout the Mediterranean area by the Arabs in the early Middle Ages. The scientific name melongena derives from a 16th-century Arabic name for one kind of aubergine. The aubergine is referred to as the "eggplant" in the United States and Canada. This came from the fact that the fruit of some early varieties were all white and looked like hen's eggs. Because of its relation to the Solanaceae (nightshade) family, it was at one time believed to be poisonous.


Cultivated varieties
A purple aubergine which has been sliced in half, showing the inside. The flesh surrounding the seeds is already beginning to oxidize and turn brown just minutes after slicing.
Enlarge
A purple aubergine which has been sliced in half, showing the inside. The flesh surrounding the seeds is already beginning to oxidize and turn brown just minutes after slicing.

The most widely grown cultivars in Europe and North America today are elongated ovoid, 12-25 cm long and 6-9 cm broad with a dark purple skin. A much wider range of shapes, sizes and colours are grown in India and elsewhere in Asia. There, cultivars that closely resemble a chicken egg in both size and shape are widely grown; colours vary from white to yellow or green as well as reddish-purple and dark purple. Some cultivars have a color gradient, from white at the stem to bright pink to deep purple, or even black, and green or purple cultivars with white striping also exist. Chinese eggplant are commonly shaped like a narrower, slightly pendulous cucumber. The name 'eggplant' dates to the 1700s, when the most common European cultivars of the fruit were white or yellow, and roughly the size and shape of a goose egg.

Aubergine is the British name given to this fruit. This name comes from the French aubergine, derived from Catalan albergínia, from Arabic al-bAdhinjAn, from Persian بادنجان Bâdinjân, the eggplant.

Numerous other names are used, many derived from the Sanskrit vatinganah, which has produced a number of names for this plant in various languages: brinjal, badingan, melongena, melanzana, berenjena, albergínia, aubergine, brown-jolly, and mad-apple (misinterpretation of Italian melanzana as mela insana).

Quote:The aubergine is referred to as the "eggplant" in the United States and Canada.

Quote:Aubergine is the British name given to this fruit.

Hope that helps.

According to this article eggplants are very versatile, and contian lots of health properties. what i am unsure about is whether it cures or causes flatulance. i looked at some websites which claim that it is in the same category as sprouts and some beans so causes flatulance.! others say that it can actually help stop flatulance.

Eggplant is another one of those illustrious vegetables of summertime. Grilled, sautéed, fried, or baked, eggplant is about as diverse as it is surprising.

The reason we find it surprising is that hidden within that lovely deep purple exterior are some very awesome health benefits that often go overlooked. In addition to containing fiber, B vitamins (including folate), potassium, magnesium, and even tryptophan, the purple skin of the eggplant contains an interesting and potent antioxidant called nasunin.

Nasunin is known as a free radical scavenger and also as an iron binder. Too much iron in the blood is not good for your health and is related to an increased risk for heart disease and cancer. So if elevated iron is a problem for you, you may want to consider adding eggplant to your diet.

Animal and in vitro evidence also suggests that eating eggplant may be beneficial for your immune system, for your cholesterol levels and as a preventive measure against cancer.

Vegetarians have been choosing eggplant for years as a delicious burger alternative and in celebrated vegetarian dishes like Baba Ganoush, which is a fantastic pureed eggplant dip. It is also a very popular vegetable in European cuisine.

Great info, thank you very much Dex and PF