The scarlet eggplant is a fruiting

plant Plants are the eukaryotes that form the Kingdom (biology), kingdom Plantae; they are predominantly Photosynthesis, photosynthetic. This means that they obtain their energy from sunlight, using chloroplasts derived from endosymbiosis with c ...

of the

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

Solanum ''Solanum'' is a large and diverse genus of flowering plants, which include three food crops of high economic importance: the potato, the tomato and the eggplant (aubergine, brinjal). It is the largest genus in the nightshade family Solana ...

'', related to the tomato and eggplant. Its green fruit is known as gilo (

Brazilian Portuguese Brazilian Portuguese (; ; also known as pt-BR) is the set of Variety (linguistics), varieties of Portuguese language native to Brazil. It is spoken by almost all of the 203 million inhabitants of Brazil and widely across the Brazilian diaspora ...

: jiló, from

Kimbundu Kimbundu, a Bantu language which has sometimes been called Mbundu or North Mbundu (to distinguish it from Umbundu, sometimes called South Mbundu), is the second-most-widely-spoken Bantu language in Angola. Its speakers are concentrated in the n ...

njilu). It was once treated as a distinct

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

, ''Solanum gilo'', but it is now known to be a

cultivar A cultivar is a kind of Horticulture, cultivated plant that people have selected for desired phenotypic trait, traits and which retains those traits when Plant propagation, propagated. Methods used to propagate cultivars include division, root a ...

group of '' Solanum aethiopicum'' (the Ethiopian Eggplant or ''nakati''). Gilo was brought to

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

from West Africa during the

slave trade Slave trade may refer to: * History of slavery - overview of slavery It may also refer to slave trades in specific countries, areas: * Al-Andalus slave trade * Atlantic slave trade ** Brazilian slave trade ** Bristol slave trade ** Danish sl ...

. It is still grown in West Africa, where it is sometimes called "garden eggs."Jiló Solanum gilo
/ref> Widely grown in Brazil, it is normally cooked as a

vegetable Vegetables are edible parts of plants that are consumed by humans or other animals as food. This original meaning is still commonly used, and is applied to plants collectively to refer to all edible plant matter, including edible flower, flo ...

. The fruit turns orange-red when ripe, but is usually picked and cooked while it is green. In Mizo it is called ''samtawk''.

Varieties, taste and usage

Some varieties, like ''morro redondo,'' can have a bitter flavor which is an

acquired taste An acquired taste is an appreciation for something unlikely to be enjoyed by a person who has not had substantial exposure to it. It is the opposite of innate taste, which is the appreciation for things that are enjoyable by most people without p ...

. ''Solanum gilo'' 'Black Stream' has black stems and red or orange fruits; it is grown in France as an ornamental, and can be dried for winter decorations.

More information

*WFCR http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/wfcr/news.newsmain/article/0/0/1522784/WFCR.Local.Features/Ethnic.Vegetables.in.the.Pioneer.Valley *University of Massachusetts http://www.umassvegetable.org/soil_crop_pest_mgt/articles_html/jilo.html

References

Eggplants {{vegetable-stub fr:Solanum gilo