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enter image description here Very soft inside, small seeds, tastes bit sweet

Abraham Ray
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Revita Shrestha
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4 Answers4

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It looks like either Pepino Melon (which I'm growing this year, and I tried to grow in 2015) or Tzimbalo, by the color, the dark striping and the leaves. Eggplant is related to both, but eggplant leaves leaves are broader and bigger than I see in the picture, usually (if not always). Pepino Melons are typically (not always) bigger and longer than Tzimbalo, but it's hard to tell from your picture which it is. I personally think it looks more like a Pepino Melon by the color, lack of sheen, and the way the leaves look.

It looks like the plant might have spider mites, by the speckling on the foliage. Mine had spider mites in 2015. If you do have spider mites, showering the plant with a shower nozzle on your hose every two or three days may help, at least if you're in a semi-arid to arid climate.

Pepino Melons are not melons, although some people think they taste like them. They're in the Solanum genus of the nightshade family.

Brōtsyorfuzthrāx
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  • Thanks for naming some likely suspects! (I had no idea there were eggplant relatives that were sweet!) – Catalyst Jun 14 '17 at 10:08
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Looks like a small eggplant (Aubergine for you Brits), possibly not yet ripe. (Credit to Huangism, who said so first in a comment.) Botanically, it's a fruit (and a nightshade!!); culinarily a vegetable.

Note that the leaves of eggplants varies considerably. Here's a page (with a photo showing both leaves and a 'fruit'), where the leaves are IMHO fairly similar to those in the Questioner's photo: http://www.learn2grow.com/plants/solanum-melongena-listada-de-gandia-images-large-20148/

IMHO wonderful in Caponata; here's a recipe to try: http://theitaliandishblog.com/imported-20090913150324/2012/9/11/sicilian-caponata.html

Enjoy

Catalyst
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    This can't be correct: those leaves look nothing like an eggplant's, and eggplant also doesn't match "very soft inside, small seeds, tastes a bit sweet". – Marti Jun 12 '17 at 14:58
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    @Marti The fruit looks exactly like a Thai eggplant. They are round and green, not long and purple. Probably closer to the wild kind too - would have been called a purple sponge plant and not an eggplant otherwise. Unless you are sure from the PLANT that it can't be an eggplant, assume it is. – rackandboneman Jun 13 '17 at 08:05
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    @rackandboneman: a Thai eggplant presumably grows on a Thai eggplant plant, with Thai eggplant leaves. Eggplant leaves are roundish with curvy/bumpy edges - nothing at all like the smooth pointy leaves in the picture. So unless you're positing that a Thai eggplant is growing on a non-eggplant plant, this cannot possibly be an eggplant, Thai or otherwise. (Not to mention, if it's not only edible but slightly sweet *when raw*, it starts resembling an eggplant about as much as an apple resembles a Ferrari.) – Marti Jun 13 '17 at 14:42
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    I am *not* at all sure that all eggplant varieties have leaves that are similar to mainstream/supermarket eggplant. The Nightshade family shows wide morphology. – Catalyst Jun 13 '17 at 14:46
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    @Catalyst: every eggplant I've ever met (Thai included) has the same type of leaf. And that's still not addressing the fact that eggplants aren't, generally speaking, edible when raw. (Yeah, you'd have to eat a lot of raw eggplant to get solanine poisoning, but it's still not exactly *palatable* unless cooked.) – Marti Jun 13 '17 at 14:49
  • I've been sick from a tiny over-ripe Diamond eggplant before (not skinned), but have had no issues with large, skinned Aswad eggplants that weren't overly mature the next year. Skinning them is supposed to remove most of the toxins. They can be toxic when under-ripe or over-ripe. Cooking isn't necessarily enough to get rid of the toxins. Both years I ate mine raw, though. I thought they tasted good. The right stage to eat them is *not* when the seeds are mature, but rather about the time the fruit stops growing. If it makes your throat burn, don't eat it (more symptoms will likely follow). – Brōtsyorfuzthrāx Jun 14 '17 at 08:19
  • I'm guessing the fruits tasted had mature seeds, and were not eggplants, however. Eggplants have lots of seeds throughout the fruit when fully ripe and unsafe to eat. Pepino Melons have a pocket of smaller seeds. – Brōtsyorfuzthrāx Jun 14 '17 at 08:44
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Yes. I found out it is pepino melon!

Revita Shrestha
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    Great! Can you accept Shule's answer as correct? (look for a checkmark under the voting arrows by her answer, click on it) – Erica Dec 09 '17 at 15:50
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To me it looks like a Mexican tomato. Tomatillos A native plant to Mexico. Tropical or warm weather plant.

J Bergen
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