What Am I?

Let us play our game again. I will give you some clues as to my identity. You will see how fast you can guess who or what I am, if you can guess who or what I am.

Most of you know that there is no prize for being the first or only one to give a correct guess. You will however have the supreme satisfaction of being right.

In the next article of Nature Center Magazine you will find out who I am and see whether you were right.

01. I am native to Southern India and Sri Lanka.

02. I am a member of the nightshade family.

03. I am related to tomatoes, potatoes, peppers, and tobacco.

04. I am usually prepared as a vegetable but I am actually a fruit.

05. The leaves of my plant are poisonous.

06. In the 5th Century, Chinese women would make a dye from my beautiful skin and rub it on their teeth until they became a shiny gray color.

07. I have falsely been blamed for causing epilepsy, madness, feelings of love, bitter disposition, cancer, leprosy, insanity, bad breath, and pimples.

08. In the movie The Coneheads Mrs Conehead screamed when she saw a display of me and others like me in the supermarket.

09.One cup of me carries less than 28 calories and almost 10% of a person's daily fiber intake. I am high in copper and potassium. I am good for you.

10. Although there are at least five different forms of me, most people think of my lovely purple form.

What am I?