Turkey Berry

About Turkey Berry

Turkey berries nutritious berries, closely related to eggplant. In fact, one Hindi name for the plant is “Jungli baingan” which translates to “Jungle Eggplant.” They have a similar bitterness, but also a contrasting sweetness.

It is possible to graft eggplant onto the turkey berry for a robust rootstock that grows eggplants on a large shrub. If you look closely at the berries, they do, in fact, resemble very small eggplants. The taste of these berries is slightly sweet, but mostly a pleasant bitterness.

There is a lot of misinformation about where the turkey berry is from. It is grown in the Americas, but is considered invasive in many places, especially in Florida. It is originally from India and Southeast Asia, and it is an important food in India, Thailand, and a number of other countries.