Hort. Sci. (Prague), 2017, 44(4):201-212 | DOI: 10.17221/36/2016-HORTSCI

Agricultural practices, biology and quality of eggplant cultivated in Central Europe. A reviewReview

Gianluca Caruso1, Robert Pokluda2, Agnieszka Sękara*,3, Andrzej Kalisz3, Aleš Jezdinský2, Tomáš Kopta2, Aneta Grabowska3
1 Department of Agricultural Sciences, University of Naples "Federico II", Italy
2 Department of Vegetable Growing and Floriculture, Mendel University in Brno, Czech Republic
3 Department of Vegetable and Medicinal Plants, University of Agriculture in Krakow, Poland

The eggplant is a warm-climate crop of high economic importance. In many Asian and Mediterranean countries, eggplants are essential components of everyday dishes, while in Central Europe they have become popular only in recent years. Eggplants are harvested at an immature stage and have low storage value; therefore, the sale of fruits in local markets requires an appropriate production strategy. In Poland, consumer demand for eggplants is currently met by imports and domestic production, which, until recently, has been carried out only in greenhouses, ensuring the availability of fresh fruits but resulting in high selling prices. The demand for eggplants is growing among Polish consumers, and, accordingly, field production is expected to gradually gain in importance due to the fruit's profitability. Accordingly, the biology and farming practices of this warm-climate crop remain in the investigation phase in temperate climate. This review aims to report the status of current knowledge regarding the technologies affecting the biology, cultivation, and nutritional value of eggplant grown in temperate climatic zone.

Keywords: farming management; fruit quality; Solanum melongena L.; temperate climate

Published: December 31, 2017  Show citation

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Caruso G, Pokluda R, Sękara A, Kalisz A, Jezdinský A, Kopta T, Grabowska A. Agricultural practices, biology and quality of eggplant cultivated in Central Europe. A review. Hort. Sci. (Prague). 2017;44(4):201-212. doi: 10.17221/36/2016-HORTSCI.
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