If you’ve only ever purchased eggplants from the grocery store, you might assume that they are all the same size, shape, and color: big, rectangular, and deep purple. Well, if you stroll around a farmers market in the middle of the summer, you’ll see that it’s far from what you expected.
There are innumerable variations available, and each is distinctive in its own way. To encourage you to know more about the types of Eggplants you may discover the next time at the market, or motivate you to try planting one of these based on the characteristics below, we’ve chosen 15 Eggplants of our favorites to share.
#1. Little Green Eggplants
Source: The National Gardening Association
This cultivar has spherical, plump, and skin that is a light shade of green. It cooks up exceptionally creamy and has a mild taste. Any dish requiring only usual eggplants may utilize it.
#2. Globe Eggplants
Source: The Spruce Eats
Globe eggplants, also referred to as American eggplants, are what you’re most likely to find in a supermarket. They are much darker and broader than other varieties and have a tougher, meatier texture than others. They can be sliced into a larger dish, such as eggplant Parmesan, or used as a protein or bread substitute.
#3. Italian Eggplants
Source: Specialty Produce
Italian eggplants have glossy, deep purple skin and can either have an elongated pear shape or an almost cylindrical shape. This low-calorie vegetable has a mild flavor and is meaty. It can be roasted, grilled, or sautéed but is never consumed uncooked.
#4. Japanese Eggplants
Source: FatFree Vegan Kitchen
The long, slender fruit of Japanese eggplants is distinguished by its thin skin and little seed content. Compared to some of the normal eggplants in the grocery store, the mild, delicately flavored flesh is less bitter.
#5. Ping Tung Eggplants
Source: Southern Exposure Seed Exchange
A Taiwanese eggplant type called Ping Tung has thin-skinned, reddish-purple fruits that can grow to be 18 inches long and about 2 inches broad. Roasting or blending the sweet, soft meat into a spread is a delicious option.
#6. Rosa Bianca Eggplants
Source: Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds
The fruits of this gorgeous Italian heritage eggplant are huge, spherical, and 5–6″ long, and they are rosy-lavender with white shading. The fruit’s sturdy form and moderate, non-bitter flavor make it perfect for slicing, baking, or roasting.
#7. Graffiti Eggplants
Source: Reader’s Digest
Graffiti eggplants are little and teardrop-shaped. Their lengths vary from 7 to 15 cm. The exterior skin is striped with violet and ivory white and is glossy, thin, and silky—small, edible seeds inside with cream to pale white flesh.
#8. Santana Eggplants
Source: Banner Greenhouses
The smooth, tear-shaped fruit’s top has very few or no spines. Whether colder or warmer than usual, Santana performs well with no restrictions.
#9. Tango Eggplants
Source: Gardening Know How
Tango Eggplants may remind you of an egg or a pear. However, Tango eggplants have a greater flavor as they’re mature and turn yellow with a firm texture. Tango eggplants are edible, but you should be aware that their skin is not.
#10. Thai Eggplant
Source: FatFree Vegan Kitchen
From long and cylindrical to tiny and round, like this specific kind, Thai eggplants come in a wide range of sizes, colors, and forms. Following a purple star-shaped blossom, these lovely fruits have glossy, green, and white skin and grow around 1 to 2 inches in size.
#11. Indian Eggplant
Source: Specialty Produce
Typically cultivated as an annual, eggplant has an upright, bushy stem that is occasionally studded with spines. Large, ovate, and somewhat lobed describe the leaves. The typical single-hanging violet blooms are around 5 cm (2 inches) wide.
#12. White Eggplant
Source: Prepared Cooks
White eggplants are rectangular and somewhat curved, measuring 10–17 cm in length on average. The outer skin is dazzling white, and smooth, and has a bulbous end that gradually tapers to a green calyx. The inside flesh is cream-colored and is packed with many, edible white seeds.
#13. Fairy Tale Eggplant
Source: Happy Acres Blog
Fairy tales eggplants have violet or purple streaks on them. The fruit has soft skin, few seeds, and a pleasant, non-bitter flavor. The window for harvesting is yet another excellent feature.
#14. Thai White Eggplant
Source: Specialty Produce
The crisp texture and mildly bitter flavor of Thai eggplant make it quite distinctive. As it matures further, the flavor becomes stronger. Thai eggplant is rather bland when consumed raw. Cooking releases an earthy smell.
#15. Filipino Eggplant
Source: Specialty Produce
Long, cylinder-shaped, and cylindrical Filipino eggplants can be straight or slightly curved. The flower end and stem have green tints on the smooth, violet outer surface. A few eatable seeds are present in the creamy white, plump interior flesh. Filipino eggplants have a delicate, sweet flavor and are soft when cooked.
