Types of Eggplants: [Names, List and Characteristics]

Eggplant is a very versatile vegetable. Native to tropical and subtropical regions of Asia, it has been cultivated since ancient times in India, China and Burma, with evidence dating back to 800 BC.

Currently, both China and India are the world leaders in production.

Its scientific name is Solanum melongena, which gives its name to the most common and well-known type of eggplant. It belongs to the nightshade family, which also includes tomatoes, peppers and potatoes.

Next we are going to show you the most famous varieties of aubergines that we can find

Main characteristics of eggplants

It is a very generous herbaceous plant in production, with presence in all continents. It is a multiannual crop. It manages to stay for more than a year because it can regrow easily, since it has a powerful root system.

It is slow growing, with a woody tree, with thorny and branched stems, which reaches an average of 2 to 2.5 meters in height.

Its leaves are large, with lobed ends and a hairy or velvety texture on the underside. Some have a few spines on the midrib of the leaf.

Its fruit is a fleshy berry of various shapes such as cylindrical, ovoid and even almost spherical, with a green calyx in some Italian varieties. The colors are also diverse, ranging from white, mottled white to purple, violet, black. It weighs between 200 to 300 grams.

The typical purple-black color that characterizes most eggplants is produced as a result of a water-soluble flavonoid pigment that lavishes that red, bluish- purple coloration on some vegetables and fruits.

It has a small brownish seed.

Next we are going to show you the most famous varieties of aubergines that we can find

Main varieties of aubergines

But let’s see what are the most popular or well-known types of aubergines around the world.

According to morphological features, the following varieties of eggplants are the most common.

Listed type eggplant variety

These are fruits with an intermediate length and colors that range from white to violet tones, coming from late plants in production, which is usually quite abundant, however.

There is a variety of hybrids listed on the market, the best known being cultivars called Banderas, Ángela or Leire.

Type of long or elongated eggplant

These aubergines are dark purple in color, elongated and weigh approximately between 150 and 200 grams. Some of the following cultivars are located.

Long Palermitan

It is a very large variety of aubergine, quite elongated with a very striking dark purple skin. It has a fleshy pulp, with a delicate flavor but with a spicy touch that differentiates it from the others, especially when cooking.

Early Dwarf Violet

The plant of this variety produces fruits very early, with a rounded tip and a shiny, not smooth, light purple skin.

long black eggplant

It is a very productive cultivar, which gives dark purple aubergines of approximately 25 centimeters.

Very early purple long eggplant

It is another very productive variety, which gives away many fruits with elongated purple husks.

Remind yourself

It is of early production, with quite elongated fruits of a darker purple color and a totally smooth surface .

Eggplant Morella

It is a type of eggplant that bears many fruits and whose plant reaches a height above the average, estimated at about 70 to 80 centimeters.

They are elongated and cylindrical at the same time, with an estimated dimension of about 22 to 24 centimeters in length and about 6 in width.

Eggplant Mary

It is a variety with a very vigorous plant, which can also grow up to 80 centimeters from which elongated and cylindrical hanging fruits emanate.

It has an intense green crown and its shell is purple and very dark. The pulp is a very white and tender mangar.

Type of round eggplant

The most common are those of the Bonica cultivar, a type of plant that is very productive and adaptable in winter cultivation periods, capable of generating early production.

The rounded ones usually have an approximate weight of between 250 to 400 grams, although there are some that reach up to 1 kilogram.

Some rounded varieties are:

Common Round Florence

It is a round aubergine with very tender pulp and a compact light purple skin. It comes with few seeds and is not bitter.

Black Beaty or Black Beauty

It has a rounded shape, a very dark purple shiny shell, with a compact pulp, almost without seeds and with a very low bitter taste.

Sabelle RZ F1

It produces rounded fruits with a bright purple color and dense, very rich pulp.

The plant has a medium-sized crown, with uniform and abundant fruits, as well as a stem with few thorns.

black round

It is one of the largest and most productive round eggplant types in plantations. The fruit can reach between 300 to 600 grams of weight.

His appearance is dark purple. Ideal for gratin dishes.

round white

It is a plant of high productivity, with a white skin and a pulp with an exquisite flavor and few seeds.

It is ideal, like the round black one, for cooking grilled dishes and gratins.

Lilac round eggplant

It is a medium productivity plant. It has a beautiful lilac -colored skin, with a delicate flavor and few seeds.

Aubergine Lety

It is another variety with characteristics similar to the round white aubergine tinged with pink, but with more marked or intense lilac hues.

It is quite high productivity, and very early or fast.

Intermediate Eggplant

The fruit is of intermediate size and shiny black, with highly productive crops and new hybrid cultivars that are very versatile because they adapt to open field or greenhouse conditions.

Cava, Rima, Diva and Paula are the most widespread cultivars of this botanical classification.

There are other white ones belonging to the Clara and Amarillo cultivars.

There are very, very numerous varieties of aubergines. There are Sicilian, Italian, white ones like the Albino and White Beaty, with smooth white skin. And there are also many Indian varieties, small, a few centimeters long and with an intense purple color and contrasting green calyx.

There are also Japanese eggplants, with the Ichiban cultivar, small, dark purple in color and with a very tender skin that does not need to be peeled.

Finally, the Chinese varieties are usually rounder, have a purple skin and calyx, with a very succulent pulp.