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HORT410 - Vegetable Crops
Eggplant - Notes
Common name: eggplant, aubergine, or brinjal
Latin name: Solanum melongena L. var. esculentum.
Family name: Solanaceae [Solanaceae
Images].
Related species grown as vegetables: potato, tomato, and pepper.
Diploid (2n = 24).
Harvested organ: immature fruit.
Origin: India and China.
Brought to N. America by early European settlers.
Eggplant history (TAMU).
Commercial production for fresh market in the U.S.A. is limited to a relatively few states; Florida and New Jersey.
In 1997, eggplant was produced on 1,700 acres in Florida, with a total yield of 544,000 cwt (yield per acre = 320 cwt/acre) and a total value of $14,144,000 (cf. New Jersey -- 900 acres; 194,000 cwt; 215 cwt/acre; $3,414,000).
Perennial, typically grown as a frost-susceptible, warm season annual.
Usually started from seed in a greenhouse then transplanted to the field.
Often grown on plastic mulch.
Optimum temperature: 21 to 29 C.
Optimum soil pH: 6.0 to 6.8.
Varieties most commonly grown in the U.S. have dark purple fruit.
Small-fruited, variously colored varieties (including white) are available.
Fruit shape ranges from globular to elongated to pear.
Fruit harvested by hand.
Fruit is chilling sensitive and should not be stored below 10 C
A problematic disease of eggplant in the Midwest is Verticillium wilt.
Major insect pests of eggplant in the Midwest:
(see: ID-56: Midwest Vegetable Production Guide for Commercial Growers 2003 - Eggplant (PURDUE) [pdf] for information on eggplant varieties, fertilizing, growing transplants and transplanting, and specific eggplant disease, weed and insect control recommendations for the Midwest)
Sources of information:
Cranshaw, W., Welty, C., Bessin, R. Peppers and eggplant. In "Vegetable Insect Management With Emphasis on the Midwest", (ed. R. Foster, B. Flood), Meister Publishing Co., Willoughby, Ohio, pp. 89 - 98 (1995).
Nonnecke, I.L. "Vegetable Production", Van Nostrand Reinhold, NY (1989).
Phillips, R., Rix, M. "The Random House Book of Vegetables", Random House, NY (1993).
Maynard, D.N. Eggplant. In "The Software Toolworks Multimedia Encyclopedia", Version 1.5, Grolier, Inc. (1992).
Kalloo, G. Eggplant, Solanum melongena Miller. In "Genetic Improvement of Vegetable Crops", (ed. G. Kalloo, B.O. Bergh), Pergamon Press, Oxford, U.K., pp. 587-604 (1993).
Midwest Vegetable Production Guide for Commercial Growers, ID-56, eds. R. Foster, D. Egel, E. Maynard, R. Weinzierl, H. Taber, L.W. Jett, B. Hutchinson, Purdue University Cooperative Extension Service, 2003.
Lawande, K.E., Chavan, J.K. Eggplant (brinjal). In "Handbook of Vegetable Science and Technology: Production, Composition, Storage, and Processing", (ed. D.K. Salunkhe, S.S. Kadam), Marcel Dekker, Inc., NY, pp. 225 - 244 (1998).
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