Solanum nigrum (PROSEA)

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Plant Resources of South-East Asia
Introduction
List of species


1, flowering stem; 2, part of fruiting stem; 3, opened calyx and gynoecium; 4, petal and stamens; 5, stamen; 6, seed from below; 7, seed in side view (Iskak Syamsudin)

Solanum nigrum L.

Protologue: Sp. pl. 1: 186 (1753).

Synonyms

  • Solanum schultesii Opiz (1843).

Vernacular names

  • Black nightshade, common nightshade, garden nightshade (En).
  • Herbe à calalou, morelle noire (Fr)
  • Indonesia: ranti (Javanese), leunca (Sundanese), bobose (Ternate)
  • Malaysia: ranti, terong meranti, terong parachichit (Peninsular)
  • Papua New Guinea: takuta (Wapenamanda, West Sepik)
  • Philippines: konti (Filipino), anti (Bontok, Tagalog), kuti (Bikol)
  • Thailand: ma waeng nok (southern), ya tom tok (northern), kha om (Prachuap Khiri Khan)
  • Vietnam: cà nút áo, gia cầu, lu lu dực.

Distribution

Native to Europe and western Asia, introduced in North America, Africa, Asia and Australia; probably fairly widely distributed throughout the Malesian region.

Uses

The medicinal use of S. nigrum goes back more than 2000 years. The plants are used as an emollient and antalgic in itching, burns and neuralgic pains, and are also considered expectorant and laxative. The leaves are said to have sedative and healing properties and are applied to cuts and ulcers. A decoction of the leaves is used to treat yaws. The fruit is considered to be a cure for diabetes. In Papua New Guinea, cooked leaves and stems are given to infants suffering from diarrhoea. In China, cooked young shoots are considered to be corrective and cooling, to increase the virility of men and to benefit menstrual disorders. A decoction of the leaves or seeds is used to treat wounds, cancerous sores and as an astringent. Diuretic properties are also attributed to the plant. The leaf juice is used against pain caused by an inflammation in the kidneys and bladder and by virulent gonorrhoea. In India, the leaves are used to treat inflammations on any part of the body, rheumatic and gouty joints and skin diseases. An extract of the leaves and stem is considered useful to treat dropsy, heart diseases, piles, gonorrhoea, fevers, eye diseases and the chronic enlargement of liver and spleen. Young shoots are eaten as a vegetable either raw or cooked. The ripe fruits have been used for jam-making and in pies, but caution should be taken as unripe fruits are certainly poisonous and the fruits of European S. nigrum and possibly of other Solanum species are thought to be poisonous at all stages of their development.

Observations

  • An annual or perennial unarmed herb up to 1 m tall, indumentum of simple eglandular and glandular hairs.
  • Leaves ovate, 4-10 cm × 2-7 cm, simple, margin entire to bluntly toothed, base cuneate, apex obtuse.
  • Inflorescence extra-axillary, a short raceme of (3-)4-8(-12) flowers.
  • Calyx campanulate, lobes up to 1 mm long, corolla stellate, 8-10 mm in diameter, white or rarely tinged with purple, anthers oblong, 2-3.5 mm long, ovary glabrous, style 5-6 mm long, stigma capitate.
  • Fruit globose to ellipsoid, 6-8(-10) mm in diameter, 2-locular, dull or somewhat shiny black or purplish-black, calyx not enlarged and with appressed or scarcely reflexed lobes.
  • Seeds (15-)25-35(-45) per fruit, 1.8-2.2 mm long.

S. nigrum is common in open and disturbed places, in full sunshine or slight shade, also in light forest, up to 3100 m altitude.

Selected sources

  • [21] Afaq, S.H. & Khan, M.M.A., 1994. Predicting solasodine content of Solanum nigrum - a statistical model. In: Ethnobiology in human welfare: abstracts of the Fourth International Congress of Ethnobiology, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India, 17-21 November, 1994. National Botanical Research Institute, Lucknow, India. p. 97.
  • [42] Akhtar, M.S. & Munir, M., 1989. Evaluation of the gastric antiulcerogenic effect of Solanum nigrum, Brassica oleracea and Ocimum basilicum in rats. Journal of Ethnopharmacology 27(1-2): 163-176.
  • [78] Atal, C.K. & Kapur, B.M. (Editors), 1982. Cultivation and utilization of medicinal plants. Regional Research Laboratory, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, Jammu-Tawi, India. 877 pp.
  • [97] Backer, C.A. & Bakhuizen van den Brink Jr, R.C., 1963-1968. Flora of Java. 3 volumes. Noordhoff, Groningen, the Netherlands. Vol. 1 (1963) 647 pp., Vol. 2 (1965) 641 pp., Vol. 3 (1968) 761 pp.
  • [164] Blomqvist, M.M., 1997. Taxonomy and uses of medicinally important species in the genera Datura L. and Solanum L. (Solanaceae) in South-East Asia. Unpublished MSc thesis, Department of Plant Taxonomy, Wageningen Agricultural University, the Netherlands. 132 pp.
  • [190] Brown, W.H., 1951-1957. Useful plants of the Philippines. Reprint of the 1941-1943 edition. 3 volumes. Technical Bulletin 10. Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources. Bureau of Printing, Manila, the Philippines. Vol. 1 (1951) 590 pp., Vol. 2 (1954) 513 pp., Vol. 3 (1957) 507 pp.
  • [202] Burkill, I.H., 1966. A dictionary of the economic products of the Malay Peninsula. Revised reprint. 2 volumes. Ministry of Agriculture and Co-operatives, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Vol. 1 (A-H) pp. 1-1240. Vol. 2 (I-Z) pp. 1241-2444.
  • [214] Carle, T., 1981. Investigations on the content of steroidal alkaloids and sapogenins within Solanum sect. Solanum (= sect. Morella) (Solanaceae). Plant Systematics and Evolution 138: 61-71.
  • [287] Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, 1948-1976. The wealth of India: a dictionary of Indian raw materials & industrial products. 11 volumes. Publications and Information Directorate, New Delhi, India.
  • [349] Dhar, M.L., Dhar, M.M., Dhawan, B.N., Mehrotra, B.N. & Ray, C., 1968. Screening of Indian plants for biological activity : Part I. Indian Journal of Experimental Biology 6: 232-247, 414.
  • [375] Dugan, G.H. & Gumbmann, M.R., 1990. Toxicological evaluation of sicklepod and black nightshade seeds in short term feeding studies in rats. Food and Chemical Toxicology 28(2): 101-107.
  • [566] Heal, R.E., Rogers, E.F, Wallace, R.T. & Starnes, O., 1950. A survey of plants for insecticidal activity. Lloydia 13: 89-62.
  • [749] Kloos, H., Thongo, F.W., Ouma, J.H. & Bulterworth, A.E., 1987. Preliminary evaluation of some wild and cultivated plants for snail control in Machakos district, Kenya. Journal of Tropical Medical Hygiene 90(4): 197-204.
  • [874] Locher, C.P., Witrouw, M., De Bethune, M.P., Burch, M.T., Mover, H.F., Davis, H., Lasure, A., Pauwels, R., De Clerq, E. & Elietinck, A.J., 1996. Antiviral activity of Hawaiian medicinal plants against human immuno deficiency Type 1 (HIV-1). Phytomedicine 2(3): 259-264.
  • [999] Nadeem, M. & Hussain, S.J., 1996. Anti-inflammatory activity of Solanum nigrum Linn. berries. Hamdard Medicus 39(4): 25-27.
  • [1035] Nguyen Van Duong, 1993. Medicinal plants of Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. Mekong Printing, Santa Ana, California, United States. 528 pp.
  • [1087] Omta, S.W.F. & Fortuin, F.T.J.M., 1978. The cultivation of Solanum nigrum L. as a leaf and fruit vegetable in the home gardens of West Java. Mimeographed research report. Institute of Ecology, Pajajaran University, Bandung, Indonesia & Department of Plant Physiology, State University, Groningen, the Netherlands. 70 pp.
  • [1178] Quisumbing, E., 1978. Medicinal plants of the Philippines. Katha Publishing Co., Quezon City, the Philippines. 1262 pp.
  • [1235] Rizk, A.M., 1982. Constituents of plants growing in Qatar I. A chemical survey of 60 plants. Fitoterapia 53: 35-44.
  • [1244] Roddick, J.G., 1986. Steroidal alkaloids of the Solanaceae. In: d'Arcy, W.G. (Editor): Solanaceae: biology and systematics. Columbia University Press, New York, United States. pp. 201-222.
  • [1245] Roddick, J.G., 1991. The importance of the Solanaceae in medicine and drug therapy. In: Hawkes, J.G., Lester, R.N., Nee, M. & Estrada, N. (Editors): Solanaceae III: Taxonomy, chemistry, evolution. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew & the Linnean Society of London, London, United Kingdom. pp. 7-23.
  • [1260] Roychoudhury, R., 1980. Effects of extracts of certain solanaceous plants on plant virus infection. Acta Botanica Indica 8(1): 91-94.
  • [1297] Schilling, E.E. & Andersen, R.N., 1990. The black nightshades (Solanum section Solanum) of the Indian subcontinent. Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society 102: 253-259.
  • [1356] Siemonsma, J.S. & Kasem Piluek (Editors), 1993. Plant Resources of South-East Asia No 8. Vegetables. Pudoc Scientific Publishers, Wageningen, the Netherlands. 412 pp.
  • [1380] Smitinand, T., 1980. Thai plant names. Royal Forest Department, Bangkok, Thailand. 379 pp.
  • [1432] Symon, D.E., 1981. A revision of the genus Solanum in Australia. Journal of the Adelaide Botanic Gardens 4: 1-367.
  • [1652] Zhang, Z.-Y., & Lu, A.-M. & D'Arcy, W., 1994. Solanaceae. In: Wu, Z.-Y. & Raven, P.H. (Editors): Flora of China 17. Science Press, Beijing, China & Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, United States. pp. 300-332.

Main genus page

Authors

  • M.M. Blomqvist & Nguyen Tien Ban
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