Description
S aethiopicum.
This variety is mostly grown as a decorative plant and is sometimes called ‘pumpkin on a stick’. The leaves of this plant are eaten as a leaf vegetable and are said to be even more nutritious than the fruit! Very unique!
Min 25 seeds $3.00
Debbie Rea –
I’ve grown Goyo Kumba with seeds from another company that is not selling it anymore. If this is truly an eggplant, then it’s in the nightshade family, Solanaceae, and its leaves are NOT edible.
admin –
Hi Debbie,
Thanks for bringing this up! You are right in that many nightshade plants have toxic leaves due to the alkaline solanine, but in fact there are certainly edible leaves in this plant family. The key with these eggplants is that they are a species of African descent,Solanum aethiopicum.. this species is divided in a handful of groups including ‘Shum’ and ‘Kumba’, both of which have been grown for hundreds of years (if not more) for their edible leaves. The ‘Kumba’ group also provides edible fruits. Its interesting to note that the leaves of capsicum plants (also nightshades) are edible too!