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 Botany
Tandang-aso is coarse, erect, branched, half-woody herb, 1 to 3 meters high. Branches are covered with short, scattered spines, and in most parts with stellate-shaped hairs. Leaves are alternate, ovate to oblong-ovate, 10 to 20 centimeters
long, with sinuate-lobed margins, acuminate with inequality base. Inflorescences are lateral, usually extra-axillary
racemose, often dichotomous. Flowers are many, white, about 1 centimeter
long. Corolla tube is short, the limb 5-lobed. Stamens are 4, the filaments
short, the anthers united into a cone. Ovary 2-celled. Fruits are globose, smooth, yellow, glabrous, about 1 centimeter in diameter.
Distribution
- Weed is found occurring in open, waste places at low and medium altitudes in most islands and provinces.
-
Flowering all year
round.
- Now pantropic.
Constituents
• Studies have reported steroidal sapogenin es, 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].
• Study yielded six triterpenes: 3-O-acetyl-11alpha, 12alpha-epoxy-oleanan-28, 13beta-olide, oleanolic acid, ursolic acid, 2alpha-hydroxy-oleanolic acid, 2alpha, 3beta-dihydroxyursolic acid.
Properties
• Considered cooling, antipyretic, antirheumatic,
antiphlogistic, anti-infectious, anti-contusion, anti-inflammation and
analgesic.
Parts
utilized
· Roots.
· Wash thoroughly and cut into slices before sun-drying.
Uses
Edibility
· Malays use the fruit in curry preparations.
- Fruit preferred unripe and provides a good flavoring.
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.
· Used for amenorrhea, indigestion, gastric pain at the navel, rheumatism-numbness, sprain contusion, lumbar muscular pains.
· Fruit used for poulticing cracks in the feet.
· In Yucatan, plant is considered sudorific, diuretic, narcotic and as resolutive, and used for convulsions, coughs, asthma, gout, rheumatism, syphilis, and skin diseases.
· 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 Tamil Nadu, India, leaf
juice used to reduce body heat and unripe fruits used to strengthen
the body.
· In Africa,
infusion of leaves taken orally for antidote use.
· In Sierra Leonne,
fruit used in cough medicines for children.
· 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 analgesic
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.
• Antimicrobial: Study showed S. torvum not only demonstrated antimicrobial activity but the extract also exhibited significant control of seed borne pathogenic fungi and bacteria. Results suggest a potential for exploitation for paddy disease management.
• Alkaloids: Comparative study of S.. torvum Sw grown in India and Chiapas, Mexico, showed similar total alkaloidal content. However, solasodine was found only in Chiapas plants. Study also yielded solasonine and solamagine, two glycosilated compounds of solasodine, which can b used as substrate for the production of important steroids in pharmacology.
• Acute and Subacute Toxicity Studies: Study of hydro-ethanolic extract of the ripe fruit showed it was not highly toxic. However, consumption at higher doses over 16 g/kg could cause liver injury. Moderate consumption of small doses up to 1 g/kg twice a week for 6 weeks appeared safe.
Caution !
Toxicology:
Reports on two outbreaks (New York and Toronto) of poisoning by cucumber
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.
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