Description
Eggplant is a plant type from Solanaceae family. It is cultivated as a one year plant in mild climates and in tropical climates it is produced as a multi-year plant. First eggplant was cultivated in India at 5th century b.c. It came to Africa from India and later on to Eastern Mediterranean and Europe. It was brought to Europe at 16th century by the Spanish. It was brought to Europe as a decorational plant at first. As it contains a small amount of nicotine, only species to consume eggplant is humans.
Eggplant is the most produced vegetable after tomato, pepper and cucumber. 29.5 million tonne of eggplant is produced in the world. First three countries that produce eggplant the most are China with 16 million tonne, India with 7 million tonne and Turkey with 970.000 tonne. %56 of world’s eggplant is produced by China while India produces %27 and Turkey %3.
Eggplant can be cultivated in various regions of Turkey. But it cannot be produced in every region due to climate conditions and growing conditions. Antalya, Şanlıurfa, Hatay, Bursa, Aydın, Adana and Samsun are the provinces that cultivates eggplant the most in Turkey. Cultivars of eggplants that are most cultivated in Turkey are; Kemer Eggplant, Halk Eggplant and Bostan Eggplant. Apart from these Kirmastı Eggplant, Yalova Eggplant, Balıkesir Eggplant and Gönen Tombik Eggplant can also be cultivated.
When we look at the exports China takes %5.5 while Turkey takes %1.5 of the total eggplant export in the world. India on the other hand has no significant export. Spain is responsible for %21 of world’s eggplant export while Mexico is responsible for %20 and lastly Italy for %3.5. As it is a vegetable that cannot be stockpiled freshly that much, only %2 of it can be exported. Countries that Turkey exports eggplant the most; Germany, Bulgaria, Australia, Romania, Holland and Russia.