*3.3. Apparent Fruit Quality*

Rootstock significantly influenced fruit length and fruit calyx length parameters (Table S1). Fruit from plants grafted on *S. melongena* × *S. aethiopicum* gr. *gilo* hybrid rootstock were significantly more elongated than those from plants grafted onto 'Scarlatti' rootstock or from ungrafted 'Scarlatti' plants (Table S1), which in turn had more elongated fruits than those from plants grafted onto *S. aethiopicum* gr. *gilo* (accession 2).

Fruit calyx length in 'Scarlatti' scion grafted onto *S. aethiopicum* gr. *gilo* × *S. melongena* hybrid rootstock was significantly higher than in plants grafted onto *S. torvum*; however, fruits from self-grafted and ungrafted 'Scarlatti' plants did not significantly differ neither from fruits from plants grafted onto *S. melongena* × *S. aethiopicum* gr. *gilo* hybrid nor from those from plants grafted onto *S. torvum*. No significant differences among rootstocks tested were found for fruit width (average of 4.7 cm), fruit length–width ratio (average of 3.9), fruit curvature (average of 1.0), fruit cross-section (average of 7.1), fruit calyx prickles (average of 0.2), or seeds index (average of 1.1) (Table S1).
