|  Botany
Coarse and branched half-woodty
plant, prickly or unarmed, growing to a height of 0.4 to 1 meter. Stems
are prickly and covered with soft short hairs. Leaves are ovate to oblong-ovate,
10-25 cm long, some armed with spines, stellate-hairy beneath, and irregularly
and shallowly lobed at the margin. Flowers are axillary, about 2.5 cm
long, purplish or bluish. Fruit is fleshy, smooth, purple when ripe,
up to 25 cm long, extremely variable in shape - rounded, oblong, or
cylindric-oblong.
Distribution
In thickets and waste
places along the roads at low altitudes.
Cultivated in some gardens.
Propagated by seeds.
Constituents
and chemical properties
- Fruit contains trigonelline,
choline, vitamins A, B, and C; fat 0.1 percent, and protein 2.2 percent.
- Fruit yields a glycoalkaloid, solamargine.
Properties
- Fruit considered purgative, phlegmatic, generative.
- Leaves are anodyne, narcotic.
Parts used
and preparation
Roots, leaves, fruits.
Uses
Nutrition
Fruit makes an excellent vegetable, the elongated kind is most cultivated,
eaten before it ripens, before the seed hardens.
Good source of calcium, phosphorus, iron, and vitamin B.
The green leaves are a good source of vitamin C.
Folkloric
- Root decoction taken
for asthma and as general stimulant.
- Leaves used for hemorrhoids.
- Root, boiled with sour mik and grain porridge used to treat syphilis.
- Juice of fruit with pounded leaves and roots used for a variety of skin
diseases.
- Roots, dried stalk, and leaves used in decoction for washing sores.
- Astringent for bladder hemorrhage.
- Decoction or infusion of leaves used for stomach problems.
- Burnt fruit used for liver problems.
- Fruit is cooling, and when bruised with vinegar, is used as a poultice
for abscesses and cracked nipples.
 - Fruit used for phthisis, cough and loss of appetite.
- The peduncle (stalk of flower or fruit) when burned is used for piles,
toothache and intestinal hemorrahges.
- Seeds are used as stimulant but may cause dyspepsia and constipation.
- In Bolivia, fruit used for scabies.
Studies
• Antiproliferative
/ Anticancer: Study
isolated indioside D, a furostanol glycoside from Solanum mammosum and
was found to possess antitiproliferative activity toward a panel of human cancer cell lines. Results showed indioside D induced apoptosis in HeLa cells via both intrinsic and extrinsic cell death pathways.
• Antimalarial: In a study of 46 different species screened for antimalarial activity, Solanum mammosum fruit extract was one of those found moderately active.
Availability
Wild-crafted. |
