Garden egg is the African eggplant — distinct from the large purple eggplant (aubergine) familiar in South African supermarkets. It is a small, round fruit, typically white or pale green when ripe (though some varieties are orange-red), and slightly bitter in taste. It is eaten raw as a snack (dipped in groundnut paste), cooked in West African stews and soups, and is a staple ingredient in dishes like Ghanaian garden egg stew and Nigerian sauce. The fruit is also eaten ceremonially in some Igbo traditions — offered at important occasions as a symbol of life and good luck.

The leaves (called nkontomire in Ghana) are also eaten as a leafy vegetable — cooked similarly to spinach and used in palaver sauce and egusi stew. This dual use — fruit and leaf — makes garden egg a productive crop with multiple harvest streams.