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.