Sensory quality of eggplant fruits harvested at three stages of maturity was examined. Eggplant cultivars: ‘Impulse’ F₁, ‘Epic’ F₁ and ‘Cubanita’ F₁, which differ in fruit shape, were chosen for the experiment. The quality of the fruits was evaluated by the panel of trained assessors and a quantitative descriptive analysis (QDA) was used for that assessment. Nineteen descriptors for fruit quality were chosen in an expert panel. Consumer preference test was also performed. Results showed that both cultivar and maturity stage significantly affected some sensory properties of fruits – sharp odour, odour of steamed potatoes, flesh colour, number of seeds, flesh firmness, flesh fibrousness, skin hardness, bitter taste, pungent flavour and overall quality. Overall sensory quality score was the highest for cv. ‘Impulse’ F₁ and for the fruits harvested at the earliest maturity stage. The correlation between consumer preference and QDA results was significant. Linear multiple regression models were constructed for prediction of overall quality scores and overall preference.