Eggplant

Solanum melongena

vegetable

A fleshy fruit, most often purple, of an Asian plant grown since prehistoric times, a cousin of the tomato. Its skin carries phenolic compounds.

Origin

India and Myanmar

Season (United States)

June to September · grows in your region

Preparation

The stem and its prickly calyx are cut off; everything else is eaten, seeds included. It soaks up oil like a sponge: salting it to draw out water, or pre-baking it, makes it absorb far less. Its skin is eaten, and that is where its polyphenols sit: worth keeping, then — but under running water, rubbing it, which is what takes off most of what settles there, organic or not. Its lectins need a real boil, not just warmth.

Molecules

Phenolic acidsIn small amounts, not counted Pectins · Anthocyanins · Insoluble fibersWhat slows things down Lectins

Did you know?

Botanists long called it mala insana, the “unhealthy fruit”; the English name eggplant comes from varieties with white fruit.