Fact check: NO, IIT Delhi has not developed plant that grows eggs

A video has been shared on social media showing eggs growing on plants. Users claimed that the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi, has created a vegan egg. This plant-based egg has almost the same taste and texture as well as the same protein level. The procedure of cooking this egg is just similar to that of real eggs'

In the first part of the video, we can see a person taking yolk from the egg on the plant. The language in that part of the video is unidentifiable. Whereas, from 26 seconds, the video shows Kannada news which states that IIT Delhi has created a vegan egg from Moong Dal or Yellow Lentils.

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Fact Check:

The claim is misleading.

As the vegan egg created by IIT Delhi is a processed product and not grown on the plants. According to reports published in 2019, Headed by Kavya Dashora, assistant professor at Centre for Rural Development and Technology at IIT-Delhi, the research is focused on creating eco-friendly, healthy and animal-cruelty free alternatives for the non-vegetarian, egg-eating consumers wanting to switch to veganism.

The said Vegan Egg comes in the form of syrup and is made using moong (split green gram). It can be cooked the same way an actual egg is needed to be, the tried and tested Vegan egg dish from the IITians is 'Anda Bhurjee'.

Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi has created a plant-based 'egg' and will soon launch sausages, beef, mutton, chicken, turkey from plant produce. These vegetarian or mock meat products are similar in taste to the original and are created inside labs as an 'environment-friendly' healthy alternative, reports Indian express.com

Times of India published an article on September 19, 2019 that states, this environment-friendly research has been funded by Rahul Dewan from Four Pursuits Ventures. He expressed his views on how animal slaughter has turned out to be the biggest reason for greenhouse emissions.

The Print talks about Industry day celebrated by IIT – Delhi In September 2019, where along with other inventions vegan egg also was showcased. "In an effort to promote industry-academia collaboration, IIT Delhi students have developed various market-ready products, some of which are being showcased on Industry Day celebrated on 21 September," states the description on the video.

In this video, we can clearly see that chunks (made from yellow lentils) are being used to cook omelet.

Here is another video, which shows IIT student making omelet from the processed vegan egg.

Here is another video that shows making a vegan egg using mung beans.

The video description shows the 'Recipe: 1 cup mung beans, rinsed 1 cup water 1/4 cup non-dairy milk Mix together in your blender and blend until smooth, then strain. Use a cloth that won't have massive amounts of pulp escaping. HOWEVER, if you find your mixture is too thin, you can add 1 to 2 tbsp of the pulp back into the mixture once strained. Then: Add 1/4 tsp black salt 1/8 tsp Tumeric 1.5 tsp chickpea flour 1/2 tsp garlic powder --add other seasonings as desired, like paprika, chili powder, whatever you like --Once your vegan egg is scrambled or made into an omelet, sprinkle a little black salt on top and you will be amazed at the eggy taste!'

The white egg-like structures seen in the viral video is the white Eggplants or Brinjals. White brinjals look exactly like eggs on the plant which is why they got the name 'Eggplant'. According to a 'story', European farmers in the 1700s gave eggplants their name because, at the time, the fruits were smaller and yellow or white. Because they resembled goose and duck eggs, they were given the oh-so-creative name "eggplants."

Though the part of the video which shows breaking the egg on the plant seems morphed, we are not able to find any further links to it.

Though it is true that engineers in IIT Delhi have created a vegan egg, it does not grow on plants. It is a processed chunky material made from moong dal or yellow lentils. It is NOT TRUE that they developed a plant that grows eggs. The claim is misleading