Sunday, 18 July 2010

SEEDLESS BRINJALS

Brinjal.  Terung.  Eggplant.  Aubergine. These are a few of the names given to the above vegetable.  I saw these beauties being sold at the market and the trader had drawn my attention to the fact that they are seedless.

Not so long ago, all the brinjals that were sold in the markets had seeds but nowadays we have some that do not have seeds.  What I know is that such vegetables are the result of genetic engineering and are referred to as parthenocarpic plants.  This simply translates to me forming fruit without fertilisation. The fruit of parthenocarpic plants are seedless. For your information, most bananas that are cultivated are seedless.  It is through genetic engineering that we have seedless varieties of tomato, strawberry, raspberry, and brinjals.

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