Brinjal

Brinjal is the most common vegetable grown throughout the country.  It varies in colour from purple to white and a mix of both. It is a member of solanaceae family and is closely related to tomato and potato family.  The British call it Aubergine.  The rest of the world calls it eggplant.

Brinjal is an annual plant often spiny with larger coarsely lobed fussy leaves. The plant usually grows to 60 cm height and bears long to oval shaped purple to greenish fruits. The fruit is a fleshy berry containing numerous small and soft seeds.

Brinjal is a native to India and Sri Lanka.  The brinjal plant grew wild in south India.  It was in cultivation in southern and eastern Asian countries since prehistoric times.  Although it has a long and rich history brinjal did not hold the reserved place in the food culture that it holds today.  At one point brinjal had a bitter and inauspicious reputation for being the cause of cancer, insanity, and leprosy.  It was even considered to be poisonous. For this reason the plant was used as a garden plant rather than food in many parts of the world. In the 18^th century with the evolution of the less bitter variety, brinjal lost its bitter reputation to gain its now esteemed place in the cuisine today.  

In India it is a vegetable crop of southern states and is also cultivated in certain parts of Maharashtra, Gujarat, and Uttar Pradesh. Today Turkey, Egypt, China, and Japan are leading cultivators of brinjal.

Brinjal is a warm season crop and requires long warm seasons to grow.  But it can also successfully be grown in rainy season and summer crops can be grown up to an elevation of 1200 mts.  For the rainfed crops, the seedling transplant can be done during May-June before the onset of south west monsoon.  Planting can also be done between September – October for irrigation fed crops.

The fruits become ready for harvesting in about 60-160 days after replanting depending upon the variety.  The elongated variety takes longer time to ripen. Harvesting at correct maturity is important as over ripen brinjal turns pithy and bitter. Careful harvesting and handling practices should be followed to avoid bruising and compression brinjal fruit.

As a native plant brinjal is widely used in South Indian cuisine like sambar, chutney, curries, and kootus. It can be baked, stewed, fried or added to soups and curries.  Brinjal can also be stuffed with meat, rice or other fillings and then beaked. Owing to its versatile nature and wide use both in everyday and festive south Indian food it is often described as “King of Vegetable” in South India

Brinjal is very low in calories.  It is a very good source of vitamin C, potassium, calcium, Magnesium, and copper.  High potassium content helps maintain good hydration which helps in the regulation of blood pressure.  They are also a good source of vitamin B6, Folate, magnesium and niacin.

In addition to a host of minerals and vitamins brinjal contains most important phytoneutrients many of which function as antioxidant. Brinjal is said to reduce joint inflammation.