Gilo is a green fruit related to the tomato and the eggplant; the plant which bears it also called Scarlet Eggplant. It was once treated as a distinct species Solanum gilo, but it now known to refer to a cultivar group of Solanum aethiopicum, the Ethopian Eggplant or nakati.

Widely grown in Brazil where it is known as jiló, it is normally cooked as a vegetable and has a bitter taste which is not universally enjoyed. It can be said to be an acquired taste. In fact, in many places in Brazil it’s a pejorative term referring to something ‘Really horrible!!!”

But birds love to peck its seeds and many bird keepers use it as feed for their animals.