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Tandang-aso (talong-talongan) shares its common names with another of the Solanum genus: talong-talongan (Solanum cumingii), also called balbalusan (Ilk.)

Family Solanaceae
Tandang-aso
Solanum torvum Sw.

DEVIL'S FIG
Dian qie ze

Scientific names  Common names   
Solanum torvum Sw. Balbalusa (Bon.)  Talungkia (Sul.) 
Solanum ferrugineum Jacq. Gambol (Sub.)  Tandang-aso (Tag.) 
Solanum largiflorum C. White Dagutung (Sul.)  Taogotan (P. Bis.) 
Solanum ficifolium Ortega Talampay (Tag.)  Devil's fig (Engl.)
  Talimbolo (Tag.) Turkey berry (Engl.)
  Talongon (Tag.)  Cherry eggplant (Engl.)
  Talong-talongan (Tag.)  Dian qie ze (Chin.)

Botany
· A coarse, erect, branched suffrutescent herb, 1 to 3 m high, the branches with short scattered spines, most parts of the body covered with stellate-shaped hairs.
· Leaves: alternate, ovate to oblong-ovate, 10 to 20 cm long, wavy-lobed, acuminate, base inequilateral.
· Flowers: inflorescence lateral, usually extra axillary racemose, often dichotomous. Flowers, many, white, about 1 cm long. Corolla tube short, the limb 5-lobed. Stamens 4, the filaments short, the anthers united into a cone. Ovary 2-celled.
· Fruits: globose, yellow, glabrous, about 1 cm in diameter.

Distribution
In most islands and provinces, in wastelands at low and medium altitudes, flowering all year round.

Parts utilized
· Roots.
· Wash thoroughly and cut into slices before sun-drying.

Properties and constituents
• Studies have reported steroidal sapogenines, neochlorogenin, chlorogenin, paniculogenin, sisalagenone and torvogenin.
• Study isolated neosolaspignenin, solaspigenin, and neochlorogenin from the leaves.

• Study yielded two new spirostanol glycosides: neosolaspigenin 6-O-ß-D-quinovopyranoside and solagenin 6-O-[ß-D-xylopyranosyl-(1-3)-O-ß-D-quinovopyranoside].

Properties
• Considered cooling, antipyretic, antirheumatic, antiphlogistic, anti-infectious, anti-contusion, anti-inflammation and analgesic.

Uses
Folkloric
· For stomach ache, pain caused by contusion, internal bruise on the belly muscle - use 15 to 30 gms of dried drug. Boil to decoction and drink.
· Indigestion, gastric pain at the navel.
· Rheumatism-numbness, sprain contusion, lumbar muscular pains.
· Amenorrhea.
· Decoction used in some areas (Bukidnon) to lessen postpartum hemorrhage.
· Dosage: 15 to 30 gms dried roots in decoction, or processed into syrup or alcoholic suspension.
• In India, leaf juice used to reduce body heat and unripe fruits used to strengthen the body. source
• In Africa, infusion of leaves taken orally for antidote use.
• In Cameroon traditional medicine, use for management of pain and inflammation.

Studies
Platelet Aggregation Effects: Two Indonesian plants, N officinale and S torvum, were studied for platelet aggregating effects. The ethanol extract exhibited a more potent effect. 
Analgesic / Antiinflammatory: Nigerian study of aqueous leaf extract of S torvum showed both analagesic and antiinflammatory properties.

Metabolic and Blood Pressure Effects: Methanolic extract of Solanum torvum reduced blood pressure, vascular reactivity changes to catecholamines and reversed metabolic alterations induced by fructose.
Polyphenolic Compounds / Antioxidant Effects: Study yielded polyphenolic compounds – phenol, flavonoid and tannin, and showed S torvum had catalytic inhibiting and antioxidant activity and suggests a potential use for reducing oxidative stress in diabetes.
Antibacterial: In an in vitro study of S. torvum against human pathogenic strains, the water and ethanol extract was found effective against all bacterial strains with an inhibition comparable to that of commercial antibiotics.
Antibacterial / Antifungal: Methanolic extracts of roots of S. torvum exhibited promising antibacterial and antifungal effects on all organisms tested (6 gram(+), 9 gram(-) and 8 pathogenic fungi).
Anti-H. Pylori / Antifungal: Helicobacter pylori infection is associated with an increased risk for duodenal ulcers, gastric ulcers, gastric adenocarcinoma and gastric lymphomas. Study of S. torvum extracts showed inhibition
of H. pylori growth. S. torvum chloroform extract also suppressed H. pylori-induced apoptosis. Further studies are needed to elucidate the molecular mechanisms of H pylori growth inhibition.

Caution !
Toxicology: Reports on two outbreaks (New York and Toronto) of poisoning by susumber berries (Solanum torvum) and detection of alkaloids. Consumption of berries caused varying degrees of GI distress, diarrhea, weakness, dizziness, slurring of speech, ataxia, cranial nerve deficits and respiratory difficulties. Poisonous berries are indistinguishable from non-toxic varieties. Solasonine and larger amounts of solamargine and other steroidal glycoalkaloids were isolated from the toxic berry strains.

Availability
Wild-crafted. 


Last Update Sept 2010

IMAGE SOURCE / GNU Free Documentation License / File:Solanum torvum 3.jpg / Solanum torvum, (tisaipele) a common Tongan weed / Tau'olunga / 29 April 2007 / Wikimedia Commons

Additional Sources and Suggested Readings
(1)
Platelet Aggregatory Effects of Nasturtium officinale and Solanum torvum Extracts / Nat Med.VOL.57;NO.4;PAGE.133-138/Journal Code:G0625A / ISSN:1340-3443
(2)
Solanaceous steroidal glycoalkaloids and poisoning by Solanum torvum, the normally edible susumber berry / Toxicon
Volume 52, Issue 6, November 2008, Pages 667-676 / doi:10.1016/j.toxicon.2008.07.016
(3)
Analgesic and Anti-Inflammatory Properties of Aqueous Extract From Leaves of Solanum Torvum (Solanaceae) / E J Ndebia, R Kamgang et al / Afr. J. Trad. CAM (2007) 4 (2): 240 - 244
(4)
Effect of Solanum torvum on blood pressure and metabolic alterations in fructose hypertensive rats / Mahalaxmi Mohan et al / / Journal of Ethnopharmacology • Volume 126, Issue 1, 29 October 2009, Pages 86-89/ / doi:10.1016/j.jep.2009.08.008

(5)
Effect of Polyphenolic Compounds from Solanum torvum on Plasma Lipid Peroxidation, Superoxide anion and Cytochrome P450 2E1 in Human Liver Microsomes / Kusirisin, W et al / Medicinal Chemistry, Volume 5, Number 6, November 2009 , pp. 583-588(6)
(6)
Medicinal plants used by traditional healers in Kancheepuram District of Tamil Nadu, India / Chellajah Muthu et al / J Ethnobiol Ethnomed. 2006; 2: 43. / doi: 10.1186/1746-4269-2-43.

(7)
Neochlorogenin, Neosolaspigenin, and Solaspigenin from Solanum torvum Leaves / Umar Mahmood, Raghunath S et al / J. Nat. Prod., 1983, 46 (3), pp 427–428
DOI: 10.1021/np50027a023
(8)
Antibacterial Activity of Different Extracts of Sundakai (Solanum torvum) Fruit Coat / M. Sivapriya, R. Dinesha, R. Harsha, S.S.T. Gowda and L. Srinivas / Int. J. Botany, 6: 61-67, 2010 / DOI: 10.3923/ijbc.2011.61.67
(9)
Antibacterial and Antifungal Activity of Solanum torvum (Solanaceae) / M A Bari, W Islam et al / INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURE & BIOLOGY, 2010, 12–3–386–390
(10)
Solanum torvum inhibits Helicobacter pylori growth and mediates apoptosis in human gastric epithelial cells / Yuan-Man Hsu, Jing-Ru Weng et al / Oncology Reports, May 2010, Volume 23 Number 5 / Doi: 10.3892/or_00000777
(11)
Characterization of spirostanol saponins in Solanum torvum by high-performance liquid chromatography/evaporative light scattering detector/electrospray ionization with multi-stage tandem mass spectrometry / Yuanyuan Lu, Jianguang Luo et al / DOI: 10.1002/rcm.3630 / Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry, Volume 22, Issue 16, pages 2447–2452, 30 August 2008


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