[Gboma; Akwukwo Anara (Igbo); Efo Igbo (Yoruba); Ganyen gauta (Hausa);
Solanum macrocarpon (cultivated), Solanum dasyphyllum
(wild)]
Garden Eggs
[Gboma; Akwukwo Anara (Igbo); Efo Igbo (Yoruba); Ganyen gauta (Hausa);
Solanum macrocarpon (cultivated), Solanum dasyphyllum
(wild)]
Technically not an eggplant, but very closely related, this nightshade originated in West Africa. It has been introduced into Central and East Africa, the Caribbean, South America and parts of Southeast Asia. There are many cultivars and land races of this species which vary considerably in fruit size. The photo specimen has very long calyx lobes but some have medium or short lobes.
Unripe the fruit may be green, white, or purple, but generally ripens to yellow or yellow-brown. They are most commonly harvested unripe and eaten raw or cooked. While quite bitter, they are much liked in West Africa. Subst: probably Thai Eggplants would be good, but they are rather less bitter. Photo by Vinayaraj distributed under license Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike v3.0 Unported.
Buying: In North America, seeds are available and some on-line vendors have canned garden eggs.
More on Eggplants.
Garden Egg Leaves
Young Garden Egg Leaves are a popular green in West Africa and are quite nutritious, though fairly bitter. Leaves are always cooked, either as a side dish or included in soups and stews. The bitter flavor comes from toxic alkaloids, so it is recommended to not over-indulge in this plant, though cooking does reduce the toxins. Photo by Marco Schmidt distributed under license Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike v3.0 Unported.
More on Eggplants.