Solanum aethiopicum Seeds | Scarlet Eggplant
LATIN NAME: Solanum aethiopicum
COMMON NAME: Scarlet Eggplant
Plant Profile
Scarlet eggplant is the African brinjal, a compact bushy plant 60-90 cm high with lobed, slightly hairy leaves and small white flowers. The fruit starts green, striped or plain, and turns scarlet or orange as it ripens, which is when it is picked for cooking in West Africa and the Caribbean.
The Nyakati type carries small round fruit in clusters, thin-skinned and seedy, with a bitter edge that disappears when they are salted or cooked twice. Plants are more tolerant of heat and drought than the Asian aubergine, and they crop within 75-90 days of sowing.
The species is native to tropical Africa and was domesticated there independently of the Asian aubergine. It is grown across the continent under a dozen names, and the young leaves are eaten as a vegetable as often as the fruit: the plant is a leaf crop in much of its range.
Science & Biotechnology
Solanum aethiopicum belongs to the same genus as tomato and potato, and it shares the family’s glycoalkaloid chemistry: solanine and related compounds in the foliage, which is why the leaves must be cooked and why the raw fruit is bitter. Breeding has reduced the bitter fraction in the garden strains, but the compound is still present at low levels.
The plant is one of the African orphan crops being studied for drought tolerance and for resistance to bacterial wilt, a soil disease that devastates tomato and aubergine in the tropics. Its root system is deeper and more fibrous than that of the Asian brinjal, which is the basis of its reputation for toughness.
Grafting experiments in West Africa use S. aethiopicum rootstock for tomato, precisely because of that root vigour and disease tolerance. That is applied biotechnology built on a plant most European gardeners have never grown.
Uses & Benefits
In West African cooking the fruit goes into stews with palm oil, fish and chilli, and the bitterness is used as a counterweight to rich ingredients. In the Caribbean it appears in curries and in pepper pot. The leaves are cooked like spinach, with the water poured off to reduce the bitterness.
The plant is productive in a hot dry summer when other aubergines sulk, and it is ornamental enough for a pot, with red fruit hanging among dark leaves into autumn. It is a useful crop for a polytunnel in a short season, and a good choice for anyone gardening on light soil in a hot climate.
Growing from Seed
Sow at 22-25°C from February onward, 5 mm deep, and expect germination in ten to fourteen days. The seedlings are slow for the first three weeks and then grow quickly; pot them on before they root through the module.
Plant out at 45 cm apart once the nights stay above 12°C, in full sun and fertile, well-drained soil. Stake the bush if it carries heavy fruit. Water regularly and mulch to keep the roots cool. Pinch out the growing tip after the third truss to encourage branching. Pick fruit when fully coloured but still firm, and pick the leaves young, never stripping more than a third of the plant at once.
Our Take
A hot-climate aubergine that fruits when others fail, and one that earns its place in a pot on appearance alone.
Related Reading
Gardeners who grow Scarlet Eggplant often pair it with these related subjects: