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{{DISPLAYTITLE:''Solanum L.'' (PROSEAVegetables)}}<big>''[[Solanum L.]]'' L. </big>

* ''[[Solanum americanum]]'' Miller - [[Solanum americanum (PROSEA)|see separate article]].

* ''[[Solanum ferox]]'' L., Sp. pl. ed. 2: 267 (1762), synonyms: ''S. indicum'' L. (1753), non auct., nomen ambiguum rejiciendum; ''S. lasiocarpum'' Dunal (1813); ''S. stramonifolium'' auct., non Jacq.

* ''[[Solanum macrocarpon]]'' L., Mant. pl. 2: 205 (1771), synonym: ''S. dasyphyllum'' Thonn. ex Schum. (1827).

* ''[[Solanum melongena]]'' L. - [[Solanum melongena (PROSEA)|see separate article]].* ''[[Solanum torvum]]'' Swartz - [[Solanum torvum (PROSEA)|see separate article]].

* ''Solanum torvum'' Swartz - see separate article. * ''[[Solanum violaceum]]'' Ortega, Nov. pl. descr. dec.: 56 (1798), synonyms: ''S. indicum'' auct., non L.; ''S. sodomeum'' L. (1753), nomen ambiguum rejiciendum.

* * ''S. ferox'' . *Brunei: tarong pasai

* ''S. macrocarpon'' . *African eggplant, gboma eggplant (En). *Aubergine gboma (Fr)

* ''S. violaceum''

In South-East Asia the three species considered here are home-garden crops or the fruits are collected from the wild ( ''S. ferox, S. violaceum'' ). No statistics are available. On local vegetable markets in Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand the useful products are sometimes offered for sale. The economic importance of ''S. macrocarpon'' is largest in tropical Africa.

*Annual or perennial herbs, erect or climbing, shrubs or rarely small trees. *Plants unarmed or spiny, usually pubescent with simple, branched, glandular or stellate hairs. *Leaves variable, usually alternate, exstipulate, petiolate, simple and entire, or lobed, pinnatisect or imparipinnate. *Inflorescence a terminal, usually apparently lateral (by the growth of an axillary bud), often extra-axillary cyme, appearing racemose, subumbellate or paniculate, rarely reduced to a single flower. *Flowers usually hermaphrodite; calyx campanulate, rotate or cupular, mostly 5-lobed; corolla stellate, rotate or campanulate, mostly 5-lobed; stamens usually 5, inserted on the corolla throat; anthers often connivent, forming a cone around the style, often dehiscing by terminal pores or slits; ovary superior, locules usually 2 with many ovules; style simple; stigma small, capitate or bifid. *Fruit a berry, usually globose, with persistent and sometimes enlarged calyx. *Seeds few to many, orbicular or subreniform, compressed, often minutely pitted or reticulate. *Germination epigeal, first true leaves usually entire.

* ''S. ferox'' . *Herb or small shrub, up to 1(-2) m tall, densely stellately pubescent, armed with straight sharp prickles or unarmed. *Leaves broadly ovate, 5-40 cm × 3-40 cm, markedly discolorous, shallowly pinnatilobed; petiole 5-16 cm long. *Inflorescence up to 10-flowered; pedicel up to 2 cm long, armed or unarmed with prickles; calyx broadly campanulate, enveloping the fruit partly or completely, armed or unarmed with prickles; corolla stellate, white or purple. *Fruit globose, 1.5-3 cm in diameter, yellow, densely pubescent with long white stellate hairs, glabrescent. *Seed 2-2.5 mm long, pale yellow.

* ''S. macrocarpon'' : *Perennial, glabrous, unarmed herb, up to 1.5 m tall with blackish violet stem, woody at the base. *Leaves oblong-lanceolate, 10-30 cm × 4-15 cm, more or less deeply pinnatilobed or with undulate margins, discolorous; petiole 1-3 cm long, with narrow tapering wings. *Inflorescence 2-7-flowered, lower flowers hermaphrodite, upper ones male; calyx campanulate, lobes much enlarged in fruit; corolla widely campanulate, light lilac with violet veins, up to 5 cm in diameter. *Fruit depressed globose, 5-6 cm × 7-8 cm, orange-yellow, on a robust fruit stalk up to 3 cm long.

* ''S. violaceum'' . *Slender armed to almost unarmed shrub, 1-1.5 m tall, densely grey tomentose, prickles variable in quantity, slightly curved. *Leaves very variable, broadly ovate in outline, 3-15 cm × 2-12 cm, from sinuate to deeply pinnately 2-3-lobed; petiole 1-6 cm long. *Inflorescence opposite a leaf, up to 12-flowered; calyx campanulate; corolla stellate, 2(-3) cm in diameter, pale to dark blue-purple. *Fruit globose, about 1 cm in diameter, orange.

Seed of ''S. macrocarpon'' germinates within 1-2 weeks of sowing, seed of ''S. ferox'' and ''S. violaceum'' takes longer. Flowering usually begins 3-4 months after sowing. Bees are the most effective natural pollinators; they vibrate or "buzz" the anthers to release their pollen. High temperature and humidity in the morning tend to hasten the opening of the flowers and the dehiscence of the anthers. The stigma is receptive from just before flower opening until 2-3 days after opening. Fruits develop from anthesis to maturity in 2-3 months, but picking of green fruits for vegetable use may start 2-4 weeks after anthesis. The number of fruits developing per inflorescence varies from 1-2 in ''S. ferox'' and ''S. macrocarpon'' to 2-8 in ''S. violaceum'' . The plants usually remain productive for about one year, and even longer in ''S. violaceum'' .

Linnaeus' concept of his ''S. indicum'' L. appears to have been ''S. ferox'' . The name ''S. indicum'' L. has been rejected as a correct name because it causes confusion; more recent authors have often used the name ''S. indicum'' L. for plants now named correctly ''S. violaceum'' . ''S. stramonifolium'' Jacq. has also been used as the correct name for ''S. ferox'' . ''S. stramonifolium'' , however, is a different species, occurring in South America.

Wild and cultivated forms exist within ''S. ferox'' , both with edible fruits. The cultivated forms can best be classified in cv. groups and cultivars. A tentative classification is proposed here:

* cv. group Cung Bulu (syn. ''S. ferox'' L. var. ''ferox'' ): in Indonesia; plants spiny; fruits hairy, 2-2.5 cm in diameter, completely enveloped by the spiny calyx.

* cv. group Domesticum (syn. ''S. lasiocarpum'' Dunal var. ''domesticum'' Heiser): in Thailand; plants unarmed, fruits hairy, over 3 cm in diameter, only at the base enveloped by a non spiny calyx.

* cv. group Involucratum (syn. ''S. involucratum'' Blume, ''S. ferox'' var. ''involucratum'' (Blume) Miquel): in Indonesia; robust spiny plants with purplish leaves; fruits hairy, 2-2.5 cm in diameter, completely enveloped by the spiny calyx.

* cv. group Sinkade (syn. ''S. ferox'' L. var. ''ferox'' ): in Burma; plants spiny, fruits hairy, 2.5 cm in diameter, only at the base enveloped by a spiny calyx.

* cv. group Trongum (syn. ''S. trongum'' Poiret, ''S. ferox'' L. var. ''trongum'' (Poiret) Kurz): in Burma; plants spiny, fruits hairy, more than 2.5 cm in diameter, glabrescent at maturity, only at the base enveloped by a spiny calyx.

In Papua New Guinea armed ( ''S. ferox'' L. var. ''ferox'' ) and unarmed ( ''S. ferox'' L. var. ''repandum'' (Forster) Bitter) forms exist, both with spiny or non spiny calyx that envelops the fruit only at the base, but they have not been reported as being cultivated.

For the cultivated forms of ''S. macrocarpon'' the cv. group name Macrocarpon (syn. ''S. macrocarpon'' L. var. ''calvum'' Bitter, ''S. macrocarpon'' L. ssp. ''macrocarpon'' ) has been proposed. The cultivated forms are believed to have been derived from the wild form, named ''S. dasyphyllum'' or ''S. macrocarpon'' L. ssp. ''dasyphyllum'' (Thonn. ex Schum.) Jaeger.

What was formerly collectively called ''S. indicum'' by many authors is now divided into ''S. anguivi'' Lamk for Africa and ''S. violaceum'' Ortega for Asia. ''S. anguivi'' is considered to be the possible ancestor of ''S. aethiopicum'' L., the scarlet eggplant, which is a popular vegetable in Africa but hardly known in South-East Asia. ''S. violaceum'' is not closely related to ''S. anguivi'' ; they differ in many aspects and they are not crossable.

Propagation is by seed or by shoot cuttings treated with a growth hormone to stimulate rooting. Before sowing, the seeds may be soaked overnight in water to promote even germination. Seeds are sown 0.5-1 cm deep in pots or seed-beds. Preferred growing conditions are temperatures of 25-32°C32 °C, a relative humidity of more than 80% and 50-75% shade. Seedlings with two leaves (2-3 weeks old) are transplanted into small polythene bags and kept under shade until they reach 15-20 cm height. After hardening for a few days the plants can be planted in the field.

Usually a few plants are planted among other crops in the home garden. ''S. macrocarpon'' is also grown in larger quantities in the field, especially in Africa and India, allowing 1 m²space for each plant. Nitrogenous fertilizer is applied at regular intervals up to the flowering stage, for optimum growth.

''S. macrocarpon'' is susceptible to bacterial wilt ( ''Pseudomonas solanacearum'' ), root knot nematode ( ''Meloidogyne arenaria'' ), wilt ( ''Verticillium dahliae'' ) and phomopsis blight ( ''Phomopsis vexans'' ). The shoot and fruit borer ''Leucinodes orbonalis'' can cause serious damage.

''S. violaceum'' has been found susceptible to the root knot nematode ''Meloidogyne arenaria'' .

Resistance to some diseases and pests present in ''S. macrocarpon'' and ''S. violaceum'' is interesting for breeding programmes of the economically more important solanaceous crops such as eggplant ( ''S. melongena'' L.). In ''S. macrocarpon'' , resistance to black root rot ( ''Thielaviopsis basicola'' ), white fly ( ''Trialeurodes vaporariorum'' ) and red spider mite ( ''Tetranychus urticae'' ) has been found; in ''S. violaceum'' , resistance to phomopsis blight ( ''Phomopsis vexans'' ) and bacterial wilt ( ''Pseudomonas solanacearum'' ) has been observed.

*Sayed Mohd Zain Hasan & P.C.M. Jansen