Distribution
The cultivation of aubergines has been recorded in Chinese literature as far back as 96 BC.
The original area of origin of the aubergine is not well known, but it has long been thought to come from the region around India and Burma.
The wild relatives of aubergines are native to savannahs of eastern Africa and the tropical forests of Asia, but the origins of the aubergine are not well understood. It is thought to have been first domesticated somewhere in Southeast Asia. Chinese literature has references to the cultivation of aubergines in 96 BC (Wang et al., 2008).
Asia produces most of the world’s aubergines (78%), but Turkey is a significant area for cultivation, with 19% of world production coming from there.
If climate change results in drying and warming, then aubergine cultivation could become more important in northern Europe as well.