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the eggplant was domesticated in southeast asia more than 4,000 years ago. it belongs to the same family as the poisonous deadly nightshade (as do potatoes, tomatoes and petunias). in the middle east and then in europe, doctors blamed it for all sorts of things, from epilepsy to cancer. in the 5th century, chinese women made a black dye from the eggplant skins to stain and polish their teeth. and some people in medieval europe considered eggplant an aphrodisiac.