Brinjal

Botanical name : Solanum melongena

Family : Solanaceae
Chromosome No. : 2n = 24
Origin : India
Common name : Eggplant, Aubergine(French)

Area and production

 In India it is well distributed in Orissa, Bihar, Karnataka, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, and
Maharashtra and UP.
 Brinjal covers 8.14% of total vegetable area and produces 9 per cent of the total production.
Economic importance and uses
 It is an annual crop cultivated all over India. The fruits are available practically throughout the year.
 Brinjal fruits are a good source of calcium, phosphorus, iron and vitamins particularly ‘B’ group.
Analysis of 100 g of edible fruit contains 91.5g of water, 6.4 g of Carbohydrates, 1.3g of Protein, 0.3g
of fat and 0.5g of mineral matters. Its green leaves are the main source of vitamin C (38-104.7mg/100g).
 Dark purple brinjal has more vitamin C than those with white skin.
 Bitterness in brinjal is due to presence of glycoalkaloids.
 Generally, high amount of glycoalkaloids (20mg/100g) produces a bitter taste and off flavour.
 Brinjal is reported to stimulate the intrapeptic metabolism of blood cholesterol.
 Leaf and fruit, fresh or dry produce had marked drop in blood cholesterol level.
 The de-cholestrolising action is attributed to the presence of poly unsaturated fatty acids , PUFA
(linoleic and linolenic) which are present in flesh and seeds of fruit in higher amount (65.1%).
 The presence of Mg and K salts also helps in de-cholestrolising action.
 Dry fruit is reported to contain goitrogenic principles.
  Aqueous extracts of fruit inhibit choline esterase activity of human plasma. Brinjal has got much
potential as raw material in pickle making and dehydration industries.
 It is supposed to contain certain medicinal properties and white brinjal is said to be good for diabetic
patients. The fruits are employed as a cure for toothache.
 It is also an excellent remedy for those who suffering from liver complaints.
 Cu content and polyphenol oxidase activity are highest in purple colour fruit and lowest in white
fruit.
 Fe and catalase activity are highest in green fruited cultivars and lowest in white fruited cultivars.
 White fruited cultivars contained twice as much crdue fibre as the purple and green fruited cultivars.
Solanum ferox is yellow fruited type.
 It is very popular in southern Europe, France and Italy and USA.
 Vitamin C content of brinjal is affected by canning.
 Toasting of fruits raises the nicotinic acid at the expense of trigonellin which is present in it and 66-69%
of it is converted into nicotinic acid during toasting.
Flowering , pollination and fruit setting
 Brinjal is a self-pollinated crop but cross pollination also occurs in it i.e it is often cross pollinated.
 Pollination by bumble bees and honey bees.
 To encourage pollination and visit of these bees, Mimosa pudica plants should be planted in vicinity of
brinjal. Brinjal flowers are divided into four types namely (i) long styled (ii)Medium styled (iii) pseudo-
short styled and (iv) short styled.
 The maximum fruit setting in different cultivars was in long styled flowers which ranged from 70-
86.7% and in medium styled it ranged from 12.5 to 55.6%.
 There is no fruit setting in pseudo-short and short-styled flowers.
Description of popular varieties and hybrids
In brinjal a large variation in plant types, fruit colour, shape and size are available.
Two main types namely round and long are cultivated throughout India. The following are important cultivars
grown in India.
Long varieties
Pusa Purple Long: It is a selection from a local variety ‘Batia’ grown in Punjab, Delhi and western UP. Pusa
Purple Purple Cluster: This cultivar is resistant to bacterial wilt and little leaf disease.
Pusa Kranti:.
Krishnanagar Green long:.
Arka Sheel:.
Arka Kusumakar: The finger shaped fruits are borne in clusters. Fruits are small, light green in colour and
yield is 45 t/ha in 110-120 days.
Arka Anand : It is a high yielding F1 hybrid with resistance to Bacterial wilt.
Arka Keshav (BWR-21) : Resistant to bacterial wilt.
Arka Navneeth:.
Arka Neelkanth (BWR-54): Violet blue glossy fruit skin with green purple calyx. Resistant to bacterial wilt.
Arka Nidhi(BWR-12): Resistant to bacterial wilt.
Arka Shirish (IIHR 194-1):
Punjab Barsati:.
Pant Smart:.
Azad Kranti:
II. Round varieties
Pant Rituraj:.
Pusa Purple Round:.
Krishnanagar Purple Round:
Punjab Bahar:.
Hybrids:
Pusa Anmol:.
Pusa Hybrid-5:.
Pusa Hybrid-6:.
Azad hybrid:.
Hisar Shyamal (H-8): tolerant to bacterial wilt.
Arka Navneet:
F1 hybrids: Commercially marketed by IAHS in India are Long 13, Suphal and Round 14. Some of the F1
hybrids released by MAHYCO Seed Company are MHB-1, MHB-9 and MHB-20 (Kalpatharu).
Vijay hybrid:
Pusa Kranti:
Pusa Bhairav: Resistant to phomopsis blight and fruit rot.
Climate and soil
Climate
 Brinjal is susceptible to severe frost.
 A long and warm growing season with temperature range of 21-27°C is most favourable for its
successful production.
 Climatic conditions especially low temperature during the cool season cause abnormal development of
the ovary (Splitting) in flower buds which then differentiate and develop into deformed fruits during
that season. Late cultivars, however, withstand mild frost and continue to bear some fruits.
 The brinjal grown in warm season shows luxurious growth and starts bearing from the initial flowers,
while in cool season its growth is poor and slow and fruit size, quality and production are adversely
affected.
 Brinjal is a day neutral plant.
Soil
 The brinjal can be grown practically on all soils from light sandy to heavy clay loam soils are good for
an early crop, while clay loam and silt loam are well suited for higher yield.
 Generally silt loam and clay loam soils are preferred for brinjal cultivation.
 The soil should be deep, fertile and well drained.
 The soil pH should not be more than 5.5 to 6.0 for its better growth and development.
Seasons
 Brinjal can grow under a wide range of climatic conditions.
 The sowing and transplanting time varies according to agro climatic condition of the region.
Under the harsh climate of North India two sowings are normally done
1. June-July for autumn- winter crop
2. November for spring summer crop.
 Sowing time in other parts of the country is from June-September and again in December-January.
 In hilly regions sowing of seed is done from March- April and seedlings are transplanted in May.
Nursery
 Raised beds should be prepared (7.5×1.2×10-15cm) and seeds are sown in rows of 7.5 to 10cm apart.
 The beds are prepared well and levelled and one centimetre thick layer of farm yard manure is to
applied and mixed properly. The seeds should be covered properly by a mixture of FYM and soil.
 As soon as the sowing is completed the bed should be covered with a thin layer of dry grass and kept
moist till the seeds germinate.
 To avoid fungal diseases, the seeds should be treated with captan or thiram at the rate of 2g/kg of seed.
 For safe guarding, the seedlings should also be sprayed with mancozeb at a concentration of 2g/litre.
 About 250-375 g seed is sufficient to cover one hectare of land with 30,000-45,000 seedlings.
  The seedlings are ready for transplanting in about 4-5 weeks.
Preparation of land
Soil is prepared to fine tilth by giving 4-5 ploughings.
Well rotten organic manure (25t/ha) is incorporated into the soil well before the final preparation.
Spacing and transplanting
 The planting distance depends on the fertility status of the soil, growing season and cultivar.
 Usually, the spacing for the bushy, non spreading type should be 50 to 60 cm in both ways and for
spreading cultivars row to row distance should be 75 to 90 cm and that for plant to plant 60 to 70 cm
either in flat beds or ridges.
 Three spacing’s are generally recommended i.e. 60×45, 75×60cm and 75×75 cm depending upon the
size and spread of the plant besides duration of bearing period.
 Highly vigorous bushy and late bearing cultivars are given, wider spacing as compared to dwarf upright
and early types.
 Stocky, healthy seedlings which are free of disease and shoot and fruit borer infestation and have
attained a height of 10-12cm with 3-4 leaves are to be selected and transplanted.
 A light irrigation should be given immediately after transplanting.
Nutrition
 It is a heavy feeder of nutrients and requires more nutrients for better yield and quality.
 As already mentioned 25 tonnes of FYM should be added 25 to 30 days before transplanting.
 NPK application is done in the form of inorganic fertilizers.
 Apply 25% of nitrogen as in the form of top dressing 6 weeks after transplanting and the remaining 25%
N should be added in to soil 10 weeks after transplanting.
Table 1. Recommendations of NPK levels in Kg/ ha of some states of India

Andhra pradesh 100-60-60 Punjab 125-62-30 MP 100-60-25 Karnataka 125-10-50

Odisha 125-80-110 West Bengal 120-50-50 Tamil Nadu 100-50-30 UP 100-50-50

Micronutrients
 The deficiency of micronutrients in brinjal has not been noticed in field.
 But some workers have studied the effect of their application.
 The application of minor elements had no effect on vegetative growth of the plant.
 However, Cu increased the number of flowers and fruits, Zn improved the weight of fruits and Mn
showed similar but less pronounced effect on flowering and fruiting.
Irrigation
 It requires several irrigation for successful cultivation.
 Timely irrigation is essential for fruit set and its development.
 Usually the crop is irrigated weekly once for higher yield.
  Proper drainage facilities should be provided in rainy season to remove excess of water from the field.
Drip irrigation is beneficial for decreasing water use and weed control.
 It is estimated that 100-110 cm irrigation is required for normal brinjal crop.
Weed control
 It is essential to keep weeds under control from the initial growth itself.
 Shallow inter cultivation is given to remove the weeds.
 Three to four hoeings are normally followed for effective control of weeds, proper aeration and good
growth of the plants.
 Orabanche is one of the serious weed affecting solanaceous crops in some areas.
 It is a root parasite and should be controlled effectively.
 A pre-planting treatment of 1.0 kg ai/ha of fluchloralin followed by one hand weeding at 30 days after
transplanting is effective.
Mulching
 The most beneficial effect of mulching is that it conserves soil moisture and controls weeds.
 Mulching in brinjal crop with black polyethylene film reduces weed growth, accelerates crop growth,
induces early bearing and increases yield.
 Sarkanda grass (Erianthus arundinaceus)used as mulching material in brinjal has given beneficial effect
and higher yield in Haryana.
Use of growth regulators and chemicals.
 Application of 2, 4-D (2ppm) at flowering induces parthenocarpy, increases fruit set, advances fruit
maturation and significantly increases total yield.
 Spraying of 4 PCPA(Para-chlorophenoxy acetic acid)(20ppm) and N-metatolyphthalamic acid (0.5%)
promotes fruit set in brinjal.
 NAA (60ppm) alone or in combination with BA(30ppm) applied on open flowers improved fruit set and
ascorbic acid, GA3, IAA and thiourea advances the flowering by 4-5 days.
 Root-dipping of one month old seedlings in ascorbic acid, GA3, IAA, and Thiourea advances the
flowering by 4-5 days.
Physiological Disorder/Constraints
1. Calyx withering

 This disorder occurs between mid-February and mid - April.

 The affected fruits become reddish brown in colour and lacking in normal luster and thus
marketability of fruits is hampered.
  The affected fruits have much higher calcium and nitrate content than healthy ones.
2. Poor fruit set
 In brinjal, four types of flower, according to length of style, are recognized irrespective of the
variety namely, long styled, medium styled, pseudo short styled and short styled.
 Pseudo short and short styled flowers do not normally set fruit but their numbers in a plant are
normally higher than long and medium styled of lower which produce fruits.
 In brinjal, flowers are normally borne solitarily as well as in clusters.
 The solitary flowers are mostly long or medium styled whereas mixtures of short styled, pseudo
short-styled and medium /long styled flowers are found in the cluster.
 Obviously ratio of short styled flowers to long/medium styled flowers in cluster in much high (3-
4:1).
 So, fruit set depends on the plant.
 Natural drop is also a problem in brinjal which may be as high as 50% in medium styled flower
and 30% in long styled flower.

Control:
 True short styled flowers are actually sterile flowers which cannot be induced to set fruits.
 However, application of growth substances on pseudo short styled, medium styled and long styled
flowers produce higher percentage of fruit set.
1. Spraying the plant with 2 ppm 2, 4,-D at flowering stage when few flower clusters appear.
2. Spraying with 60 ppm NAA or 500 ppm PCPA (Parachloroacetic acid) at full bloom stage.
Harvesting and yield
 Brinjal fruits are harvested when they have developed a good colour and marketable size, are still
immature, tender and have not lost culinary qualities.
 The fruits are harvested with stalk at joint where they are attached to the branch.
 Normally the plucking can be done at 7 to 10 days depending upon the variety.
 Yield of brinjal vary according to the region, cultivar and duration of the crop.
 Early crop normally yields 20-30 t/ha.
 While long duration crop yields 35-40 t/ha.
 Many F1 hybrids yield about 40-80t/ha.
 NDB-25 has soft joint and is easy to harvest.
Marketing
 After harvest, the fruits are kept in shade and diseased and damaged fruits are sorted out.
  In early stage the size of fruit will be small and hence the fruits can be packed in baskets and taken to
the market, but during later stage or at peak of the pickings, the fruits are packed in gunny bags and
taken to the market.
 The attractive bright, glossy appearance having freshness and optimum size of the fruit are qualities for
good market price.
Storage and post harvest handling
 Brinjal green fruits had longest shelf life of 4 weeks based on the PLW (Physiological loss in weight)
discoloration, spoilage and CO2 injury is seen in storage at 8-10°C under controlled atmosphere with
initial concentration of 5% CO2 .
 The fruits can also be stored for 7-10 days in fairly good condition at 7.2-10°C with 85-95% RH.
Packing, Packaging materials and export
Uniform , superior quality fruits, free from disease and insects blemishes are individually wrapped in the tissue
paper and arranged in suitable cartoons for exporting them to foreign markets.
Now a days individual fruits are packed in PVC stretch film.
Diseases
Damping off,

Phomopsis blight

Little Leaf

Mosaic
Pest
Jassids

Epilachna beetle

Shoot and Fruit borer

Mites