http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aubergine
The aubergine is an important food crop grown for its large, pendulous, purple or white
fruit. It has been cultivated in southern and eastern
Asian countries since prehistory but appears to have become known to the Western world no earlier than ca. 1500 CE. The numerous
Arabic and North African names for it, along with the lack of ancient Greek and Roman names, indicate that it was introduced throughout the
Mediterranean area by the
Arabs in the early
Middle Ages. The scientific name
melongena is derived from a 16th-century Arabic term for one kind of aubergine.
The aubergine is called the
eggplant in the United States, Australia, and Canada. This name developed from the fact that the fruits of some 18th-century European cultivars were yellow or white and resembled goose or hen's eggs.
Because of the aubergine's relationship with the
Solanaceae (nightshade) family, it was at one time believed to be poisonous.
