Chinese scarlet eggplant; tomato-fruit eggplant
Refers to the plant Solanum integrifolium, an ornamental eggplant with small tomato-like fruits. Not commonly eaten.
I planted Chinese scarlet eggplants in the garden and grow them for ornamental purposes.
An older or literary name for the common tomato (Solanum lycopersicum). In modern Japanese, トマト is overwhelmingly more common.
See also: トマト
In the past, tomatoes were sometimes called 赤茄子.
Standard kanji spelling for this plant name.
Compound of 赤 (aka, 'red') + 茄子 (nasu, 'eggplant'), literally 'red eggplant'. The name reflects the red, tomato-like fruits of the plants it refers to.