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)