Question

What is the major edible part of a brinjal (egg plant)?
This question has multiple correct options
A) Pericarp
B) Thalamus
C) Placenta
D) Style

Answer 1

Hint: Brinjal is a fruit that is consumed as a vegetable.

Complete Answer:
Solanum melongena or eggplant or brinjal is one of those veggies that we all love having as lunch. It is prepared in multiple ways and is quite a common indian cuisine. Who needs an introduction to taste buds satisfying baigan ka bharta! So let’s discuss a few scientific details about the brinjal.

It is classified as per the following scheme:
Kingdom Plantae – Plants
 Subkingdom Tracheobionta – Vascular plants
  Superdivision Spermatophyta – Seed plants
    Division Magnoliophyta – Flowering plants
      Class Magnoliopsida – Dicotyledons
        Subclass Asteridae
          Order Solanales
            Family Solanaceae – Potato family
             Genus Solanum L. – nightshade
               Species Solanum melongena L. – eggplant

So, we understand that our brinjal belongs to the potato family, Solanaceae. The purple spongy part which is cooked as the vegetable is actually an absorbent fruit. Botanically, it is a berry fruit. Berries are fleshy fruits that are produced from a single flower with a single ovary. In berries, the entire outer wall of the fruit called the pericarp, ripens up and becomes edible. So, pericarp happens to be an edible part in brinjal. In brinjal, along with the pericarp, the placenta is also edible. The seeds are cooked before consumption. The seeds taste bitter when raw due to the presence of nicotinoid alkaloids, just like those of tobacco, a plant that also belongs to the family Solanaceae.

The thalamus is edible in apples. It contributes to the formation of fruits, which is why apple fruits are called the false fruits.
Style and Stigma are edible in Crocus or saffron. These are dried and used as condiments to add flavour and aroma.

Therefore, the correct answer is option A and option C.

Note: Some other examples of berry fruits are:
Avocado, Banana, Barberry, Coffee berry, Sapodilla, Grapes, etc.