Vegetable Program
Ethnic Crops

Eggplant (Solanum melongena)

Berenjena

The eggplant variety "Zebra" harvested at the UMass Research Farm in late July. (Photo by Maria Moreira)

Eggplant is originally from India and spread throughout the world, arriving in the New World with European colonization. In the Caribbean and parts of Central America, the preference is for a pink variety, sometimes with white striations. In Puerto Rico, this OP variety used is called rosita (Pink in Spanish). In the terminal market in Massachusetts it is sometimes called berenjena dominicana (Dominican eggplant in Spanish)

Eggplant for sale at a market in the Dominican Republic. (Photo by Frank Mangan)

Production
For information on production and management of eggplant, refer to the The New England Vegetable Management Guide and click on "eggplant".

Seed Sources
The variety Purple Rain is available from Burpee

The variety Zebra is available from Johnny's Selected Seeds