How to Tell If Eggplant Is Bad (2024)

FAQs

How to Tell If Eggplant Is Bad? ›

Bad eggplant looks wrinkly and dull-colored. Squishy texture and a rotten odor are other common signs of bad eggplant. Fresh eggplant lasts 2-3 days at room temperature, 5 days in the refrigerator, and 8-12 months in the freezer. Eggplant that turns brown after you slice it is okay to eat.

When buying an eggplant, the flesh should be firm but give slightly when pressed, then bounce back. If your eggplant is soft to the touch, that's an indication that it's beginning to spoil. In addition, if the flesh of the eggplant is slimy, you'll want to throw it away.

Answer. Eggplant flesh will have tan to brown colored spots around the seeds. If this is the color you are referring to, it is edible. If the flesh is more brown than white, the eggplant may be spoiling and should be discarded.

If you don't intend to eat the eggplant within 2 days, it should be refrigerated. To refrigerate, wrap in a paper towel and place in a reusable container or perforated plastic bag in the crisper section of your refrigerator for use within 5 - 7 days.

Choosing the Wrong Eggplant

A good meal starts with produce that's top-notch, and eggplants are no exception. "Bruised, wrinkly, or soft eggplants are well past their peak and are likely to be dry and spongy no matter how you prepare them.

Eggplant is delicate. It's sensitive to light and both the heat and the cold, and it starts decomposing quickly. Remove any plastic packaging to hold off spoiling quickly. Raw, the fruit should only be stored whole — once the interior is exposed, it will start going bad.

While solanine can be toxic, the levels in ripe eggplants are typically low and not harmful to humans when consumed in normal food quantities. However, it's crucial to avoid the plant's leaves, stems, and unripe fruit, as they have higher solanine concentrations.

Regardless of the type of eggplant you've got, don't leave fruits on the plant so long that the flesh becomes tough and the seeds firm up. The skin will look dull and take on a brown cast when fruits are overripe, and the flesh inside will be bitter. Fruits will feel slightly soft under gentle pressure when overripe.

Fruit rot in eggplants begins with small lesions on the fruits. Over time, they grow and merge into each other to create larger lesions. They look like sunken spots on the fruit, and in the center, you will see a flesh-colored area that is full of fungal spores.

JERRY: As eggplant mature they do tend to go yellow and this means they've past their best in terms of taste. One variety from India called 'Udumalpet' produces fruit that are naturally yellow when ripe. But don't throw away over-ripe fruit.

Is eggplant still good if it's soft? ›

You want a little firmness to your eggplant. It should be slightly firm but not hard. If you push on it with your finger and the veggie feels very soft, or you're able to puncture the skin, it's too far gone. A perfectly ripe eggplant will not have as much give when touched as a ripe tomato or peach.

The best solution is to store them in the crisper drawer of the refrigerator, in a plastic bag with a crumpled-up sheet of paper towel to absorb excess moisture. Kept this way, they'll be of acceptable quality for up to a week.

While the skin of a small young eggplant is edible, the skin becomes bitter on larger or older eggplants and should be peeled. When in doubt, the answer to, "Do you peel eggplant before cooking?" is yes, peel it. Use a vegetable peeler or paring knife to remove the skin.

Lusterless and shriveling exteriorA ripe, safe-to-eat eggplant looks really shiny and has tight, smooth skin. If your eggplant has lost its luster and/or looks wrinkly, it's past its prime and no longer good to cook with. Keep an eye out for brown spots around your eggplant, too.

It's likely just been exposed to air and is experiencing enzymatic browning. An eggplant with brown spots is not safe to eat if it contains bugs or mold or exhibits other signs of spoilage. It should be thrown out.

As in baba ganoush, the aubergine is cooked over hot coals, on an open flame or in a griddle pan until the skin is charred and the insides soft and smoky. Because the outside is essentially cremated, it's a great way to use up ageing aubergine with wrinkly skin or bruising.

Ripe eggplants should be firm but not hard. Flesh should be white with a slight green tint (orange eggplants ripen orange/green inside). If you are unsure of your eggplant's ripeness, cut one crosswise and check the seeds. They should be clearly visible.

A just ripe eggplant when sliced will have soft, well-formed but immature seeds; an immature and unripe eggplant will have no visible seeds; an overripe eggplant will have hard, dark seeds. (Seeds forming inside the fruit cause the skin to go from shiny to dull.)

Eggplant seeds are safe to eat, but vary in flavor. Younger eggplants tend to have fewer, lighter, and more neutral-tasting seeds, while more mature fruits can have darker seeds with a bitter taste. If you'd like to remove the seeds, gently do so by scooping them from your eggplant pieces using a spoon.