Solanum melongena is a tropical perennial plant originating from India. It is cultivated mainly for its fruit, which is known as an eggplant in North America and Australia. In Britain, it is called aubergine, and in South Asia and South Africa, it is called brinjal. Nowadays, eggplant is widely cultivated throughout the world as a vegetable crop. The raw fruit tastes bitter and astringent but becomes tender and rich when cooked. It is steamed, stir-fried, or pan-fried in Korea and eaten as a side dish. It is roasted, skinned, mashed, or mixed with other vegetables or spices in India or Bangladesh. Eggplant is composed mostly of water: about 92% of raw eggplant is water. The additional 8% is carbohydrates, proteins, fat, vitamins, and minerals.

Eggplant is one of the top ten vegetables with a strong capacity for radical oxygen absorbance and is also known as an abundant source of polyphenol compounds. The skin of eggplant has a higher amount of polyphenols and flavonoids than the pulp. A study has shown that the thermal treatment of eggplant increased anti-oxidant activity.