Tuesday 11 August 2015

Growing Yellow Eggplant Or Terung Telunjuk (In Malay)

I remembered that some time last year in November I visited Perak's Herbal Garden with my friends and I brought back a yellow eggplant that has dropped on the ground. My friend cut the eggplant into two and we each took home a half each. I sowed the seeds and waited for them to sprout. After a few months have passed, there was no sign of growth. Probably the seeds were not matured enough to propagate.

Later, I sowed some purple eggplant seeds that I bought from the wet market. I have sowed many kinds of seeds and sometimes I couldn't remember which is which.
I found these growing in one of the containers. When these were big enough, I transferred them into bigger pots.

Due to the rainy season at that time, only these two survived.

This plant is growing well while the other is stunted. The leaves are thin and not smooth.
The plants grew and one morning I saw a small light purple flower blooming.
The light purple flower has yellow stamens.

Most of the flowers later dropped and no sign of fruit.

At last, I noticed a small fruit.

And it grew larger.

The fruit was green and white. I was waiting for the fruit to turn purple.
But instead, it turned yellow! What happened to my purple eggplant seeds? The fruit measured about 3.5 inches long and 1.25 inches wide. Then I remembered the yellow eggplant seeds I have sowed. They took so long to sprout, I have totally forgotten about them.

It turned out that this is the Terung Telunjuk (in Malay) or the green eggplant. When the fruit is ripe, the colour changed to golden yellow. From the information obtained from the Herbal Garden, its scientific name is Solanum Melongena.

The plant is now about 4 feet tall, planted in a 9 inches diameter pot. Other common names for eggplant are Brinjal or Aubergine. Common varieties are the dark purple, dark violet, white or green.

When the fruit is fully ripen, it started to darken.

On the other side of the fruit, it had burst open and revealed the seeds inside. These seeds are matured enough to be propagated. The young fruit is fleshy with many small seeds.

The fruit is used in cooking. It is also used as salad. It is rich in vitamin C, high in fibre and calcium.

Medicinal uses:
  • To relieve cough and treating of asthma or breathlessness - boil the roots in water and drink.
  • To treat skin problem - crush the leaves and apply the pulp onto the affected area.
".... But for you who revere My name,
the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its rays.
And you will go out and frolic like well-fed calves.
Then you will trample on the wicked;
they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day
when I act," says the LORD Almighty.
(Malachi 4:2-3, NIV)

48 comments:

  1. New species?...purple, white & green are very common but yellow (almost orange) my 1st time seeing it. Never saw in the market though. At first when you mention yellow, I thought it's terung dayak as what we call in Kuching, round & yellowish but I am wrong.

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    1. Hi Irene, actually this is suppose to be green, called terung telunjuk in Malay. It will turn yellow when ripe. I think when it turned yellow it will be too old to be eaten.

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  2. Nancy, it is a joy to see your yellow eggplant developing. Hopefully you get a better harvest soon!

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    1. Hi Phong Hong, I have not tasted the eggplant yet. I suppose it will be too old to eat when it turned yellow. If I like the taste then I may grow a few more plants.

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  3. I never seen a yellow egg plant. Like what Irene said, maybe same species with Terung Dayak but Terung Dayak is rounder in shape. Sourish in taste.

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    1. Hi Rose, this is Terung Telunjuk, suppose to be green. When it turns yellow, I suppose it will be too old to eat. I have not tasted this fruit yet.

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  4. I hv this too but no luck on fruit yet. Got flower but kept dropping 😯

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    1. So far my plant has 3 fruits only. I suppose the yellow one is too old to be eaten. I may take the green ones and check out the taste.

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    2. jiayoh...Mine kena attack by something look like lady bugs

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    3. hmm....I think the other stunted plant is also infested...the leaves are look dirty and dropping off. These pests are really troublesome!

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  5. How wonderful that the yellow eggplant grew after you had given up hope. Sometime we make plans and God has another plan for us.
    Very interesting post.
    Have a great day.
    Hugs,
    JB

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    1. Yes Julia, it was really a big surprise. God's creation is wonderful!

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  6. I have never come across a deep yellow egg plant before, does it taste the same as the familiar purple one?

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    1. I do not know yet. I have not tried eating the fruit.

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  7. Love your sequence of photos - isn't it great to see such wonderful produce from seeds
    Caz xx

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    1. It was a wonderful surprise for me. Thanks for your visit.

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  8. I can only admire plants as i do not have green fingers...

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    1. Hi Sharon, you are enjoying the easy part. Let those with green fingers do the hard work. You can relax and enjoy the fruit of our labour...ha ha...

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  9. I did not know there were different colored eggplants! I learn so much through blogging, if I could only remember it all. This I will remember...but there is a lot I don't.

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    1. Hi Rose, I am also learning lots of things from blogging. There are still many more things I do not know.

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  10. I've only seen the dark purple ones. I had no idea there where other colors. Not a fan of eggplant either and I love veggies. Just don't care for them.

    Have a fabulous day Nancy. ☺

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    1. Hi Sandee, I love the dark purple eggplants. Not so keen on the others but this yellow one is new to me. Have a fabulous day too!

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  11. Namcy you have green fingers

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    1. Thank you, Gosia. I plant, I water and God makes it grow. Have a lovely day!

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  12. May you have many more plants with the matured seeds. It is truly GOD's work to see the seeds grew into the plant and new fruitsyellow brinjal after so long.

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    1. Hi Mun, actually God has taught me many things through gardening and how His words become truth when I applied to gardening as well as our daily life!

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  13. Oh, this is beautiful, Nancy. I have never seen this eggplant before! How exciting to follow its progress. I had a purple brinjal plant once, but it died from an attack of mealybugs. Grr!

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    1. I was more keen to grow the purple brinjal but this came as a bonus. Now I have to go buy some new purple brinjal seeds.

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    2. Looking forward to reading about that - sweet dreams, Nancy.

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    3. Thank you, Sharon. Good night and sweet dreams too.

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  14. Nancy, the colour and light in your photos is astonishing and captivating!

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    1. Thank you, Linda. Your kind comment is very much appreciated. Have a great day!

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  15. I've never heard of yellow egg plant. Tom The Backroads Traveller

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    1. Hi Tom, Its the little green eggplant that turns golden yellow when it ripens.

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  16. I've never heard of a yellow eggplant until now. How fascinating! Do they taste like the purple ones? I sure do love those. :) T. http://tickledpinkwoman.blogspot.com

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    1. So far I have not tasted it yet. When there are more fruits, I will harvest some to taste. Have a wonderful day!

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  17. Hi Nancy,

    Watching your egg plant growing is like watching a child growing. Very fascinating and satisfying. You did a good job growing them :D

    Zoe

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    1. Hi Zoe, this is the wonderful part of gardening for me, i.e. to watch them grow from A to Z. It is very rewarding too!

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  18. Enjoyed reading and seeing the step by step growth of the egg plant and it's medical uses. I too have grown purple egg plant in our house. It has given us many egg fruit. I have enjoyed eating them...

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    1. I too enjoyed eating the purple egg plant. I will try to grow the purple ones.

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  19. I enjoyed this terung story... haha. Now you definitely have mature seeds to grow more plants.

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    1. Hi Stacy, I need to taste this fruit first. If it is not tasty I will not grow these again. I prefer to grow the purple ones.

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  20. I have never seen yellow eggplant

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  21. I have never seen yellow eggplant

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  22. I have never seen yellow eggplant

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    Replies
    1. Actually this is the small green ones. They turn yellow when they matured and ripen.

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