How to Pick an Eggplant (male vs female?)
Hi Everyone!
There was some discussion this week at pick-up on how to pick the best eggplant. Some interesting ideas were thrown around about size, shape, male, female, indents and seeds.
I've done some research and here are the facts:
Here's the interesting one.... Are there Male and Female Eggplants?!
Well, I've done quite a bit of reading and I am still not 100% sure of the answer to this one. Many people say yes, there are male and female eggplants and that you want the males; they have less seeds meaning that they will be less bitter. These people will say you can tell the difference by looking at the bottom - female eggplants have a deeper indented bottom with a slash-like mark, while male eggplants have a shallower indent with a circular/round mark.
In contrast others will argue that eggplant cannot be male or female, they are simply eggplant.
' "Male" and "female" eggplant is a case of unfortunate terminology. "Vegetables," such as eggplant, peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers and squash, are - botanically speaking - really fruits. The fruits themselves can't be considered "male or female." Male pollen was transferred to female parts of the flower, resulting in the fruit we eat. Different varieties of eggplant may be more bitter and contain more noticeable seeds than others. Also, as an eggplant fruit matures, the seeds become more noticeable. So an eggplant picked when very mature to over-mature might appear "seedier" than others picked when less mature, even those from the same plant. Pick eggplant fruits when full size is reached but while the exterior is still a glossy purple. Once the exterior becomes dull purple, the eggplant fruit is over-mature." -Robert Cox, Colorado State University Cooperative Extension Horticulture, Jefferson County.
I had been one of the male/female believers... but after reading all the opposing evidence, I'm beginning to think it may not make that much sense. BUT that does not mean that the different markings on the bottom are useless - they may still be an indicator of seeds even if they mean nothing about the sex of the eggplant.
Plenty of sources have landed on a middle ground that suggests that there is a difference between the long marked eggplants and the round marked ones, even if there is no such thing as a male or female eggplant.
I picked out a couple and did some experiementing:
To the left is the dash-like mark eggplant and the to the right is the circular marked eggplant. It is kind of difficult to see but there was a difference between the two. Whether or not the difference really makes that much of a difference ...I don't know. But it has been an interesting topic and if you guys have any feedback or theories of your own, please share!
Have a good weekend!!
-B
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Hi Everyone!
There was some discussion this week at pick-up on how to pick the best eggplant. Some interesting ideas were thrown around about size, shape, male, female, indents and seeds.
I've done some research and here are the facts:
- The smaller the eggplant, the sweeter it tends to be. *I don't know about you but this presents a challenge to my inner child, I got immediately excited by how massive some of the eggplants were. Butttt, I am sad to admit that the size of the eggplant is what showed up most consistently in my research as to the best way to pick out a sweeter, less seedy eggplant.
- Try to pick a firm eggplant with taut skin (rather than a spongy or totally solid one)
Here's the interesting one.... Are there Male and Female Eggplants?!
Well, I've done quite a bit of reading and I am still not 100% sure of the answer to this one. Many people say yes, there are male and female eggplants and that you want the males; they have less seeds meaning that they will be less bitter. These people will say you can tell the difference by looking at the bottom - female eggplants have a deeper indented bottom with a slash-like mark, while male eggplants have a shallower indent with a circular/round mark.
In contrast others will argue that eggplant cannot be male or female, they are simply eggplant.
' "Male" and "female" eggplant is a case of unfortunate terminology. "Vegetables," such as eggplant, peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers and squash, are - botanically speaking - really fruits. The fruits themselves can't be considered "male or female." Male pollen was transferred to female parts of the flower, resulting in the fruit we eat. Different varieties of eggplant may be more bitter and contain more noticeable seeds than others. Also, as an eggplant fruit matures, the seeds become more noticeable. So an eggplant picked when very mature to over-mature might appear "seedier" than others picked when less mature, even those from the same plant. Pick eggplant fruits when full size is reached but while the exterior is still a glossy purple. Once the exterior becomes dull purple, the eggplant fruit is over-mature." -Robert Cox, Colorado State University Cooperative Extension Horticulture, Jefferson County.
I had been one of the male/female believers... but after reading all the opposing evidence, I'm beginning to think it may not make that much sense. BUT that does not mean that the different markings on the bottom are useless - they may still be an indicator of seeds even if they mean nothing about the sex of the eggplant.
Plenty of sources have landed on a middle ground that suggests that there is a difference between the long marked eggplants and the round marked ones, even if there is no such thing as a male or female eggplant.
I picked out a couple and did some experiementing:
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| Dash-like mark / Circular mark |
Have a good weekend!!
-B
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