Morphological diversity of trichomes and phytochemicals in wild and cultivated eggplant species

An attempt was made to understand the diversity of trichomes both at morphological and chemical levels in wild (Solanum viarum, S. mammosum, S. indicum, S. gilo, S. torvum) and cultivated eggplant (S. melongena) species. Cultivated and wild eggplant species have morphologically and chemically diverse trichomes. The presence of specific type of trichomes, their densities and chemical composition varied across species. The wild species viz., S. viarum and S. mammosum have seven (Type II to VIII) morphologically distinguishable types of trichomes including two types of glandular trichomes (Type VI, VII) as against uniform occurrence of branched stellate trichomes (Type VIII) alone in cultivated species. Differences among the phytochemicals viz., phenols and flavonoid levels were also observed across the eggplant species and type of trichomes.