Botany Brinjal or eggplant, Solanum melongena L. Belonging to the family Solanaceae is herbaceous annual with erect or semi spreading habits. The eggplant is a perennial that is cultivated as an annual. It develops bushy plants that grow erect to about 2-4 feet tall. Growth is indeterminate. The fruit is a berry, borne singly or in clusters. It is a self-pollinated crop but the cross-pollination to the extent of 30 to 40%. Four types of flowers are there in Brinjal. They are long-styled and medium-styled flowers produced fruits whereas pseudoshort styled and true short-styled flowers did not set any fruit. Fruit setting in the Brinjal varieties with long-styled flowers varied from 70 to 86% while short-styled flowers did not set fruit. The fruit is a pendent, fleshy berry that can be oval, round, or oblong, 2-8 inches in diameter. The epidermis or skin of the fruit is thin and smooth. The fruit is mostly fleshy placenta, in which the seeds are embedded in a mass of spongy tissue. Most cultivators today have purple fruits, although colors may range from yellowish white to red, and to blackish-purple.

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