8 Unusual Eggplant Types

The large, dark-purple fruit of Solanum melongena, a member of the same genus as tomatoes and peppers, is only known as eggplant in the United States (although Australians refer to it as eggfruit). In Africa, it's called "garden egg." In its native India, eggplant is dubbed "brinjal," and, in the Mediterranean area, it's called "aubergine."

The fact that Americans are the only culture to call it eggplant reveals some confusion regarding a species that's far more diverse than we realize. We're most familiar with the eggplant types you can get at the supermarket, such as 'American Large Purple,' a popular variety grown in late 19th-century America. It took home gardeners and, in particular, heirloom and ethnic gardeners to bring other eggplants into prominence.

Nowadays, the selection includes fruits that are striped, splotched, or blushed with shades of violet. Some are even long and thin or small and round, available in a rainbow of colors, including pink, yellow, orange, green, and even white.

If you want to pick your eggplants by flavor, many of the smaller eggplant varieties have fewer seeds than larger varieties like Black Beauty and American Large Purple. This improves flavor and cuts down on preparation time. Eggplant seeds are bitter and salting and soaking is often part of any recipe using this vegetable. The Asian types are also prolific producing many fruits per plant in a shorter period of time.

Here are eight unusual varieties of eggplant to try instead of the standard purple type.