Solanum virginianum, also called Surattense nightshade,[2] yellow-fruit nightshade, yellow-berried nightshade, Indian nightshade, Thai green eggplant, or Thai striped eggplant (from the unripe fruit),[3] is a medicinal plant used mostly in India. Some parts of the plant, such as the fruit, are poisonous.[4] Solanum surattense Burm. f. and Solanum xanthocarpum Schrad. and Wendl. are synonyms of Solanum virginianum L. (Sharma et al., 2010).
| Yellow-fruit nightshade | |
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Scientific classification 
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| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Asterids |
| Order: | Solanales |
| Family: | Solanaceae |
| Genus: | Solanum |
| Species: | S. virginianum
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| Binomial name | |
| Solanum virginianum L.
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| Synonyms[1] | |
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List
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Description
editPlant body
editThorny Nightshade is an erect herb, that is sometimes woody at the base, and measures 50–70 cm (20–28 in) tall. It is copiously armed with sturdy, needlelike, and broad-based prickles measuring 0.5-2cm x 0.5-1.5mm.[5]
Leaves
editThe plant has ovate-oblong, sinuated leaves that are unequally paired, with blades measuring 4-9cm × 2-4.5cm. They have an acute apex, unequal lobes and are either pinnate or possessive of usually 5-9 lobes. The veins and stalks of the leaves are prickly, and the stalks have a length of 2-3.5cm.
Inflorescence
editThe racemose inflorescence of the plant is 4-7cm tall, and the bell-shaped sepal tube has a diameter of 1cm.
Flowers
editThe blue-purple flowers measure 1.4–1.6 cm × 2.5 cm. The petals are ovate-deltate, measure 6–8mm, and are densely pubescent with stellate hairs. The filaments have a measurement of 1mm, the anthers 8mm, and the style 1cm.
Fruits
editThe yellow-fruit nightshade’s fruiting pedicels are 2–3.6cm tall. They have prickles and sparse stellate hairs, while the fruiting sepals are prickly and sparsely pubescent. Pale yellow berries of 1.3–2.2cm in diameter are produced, when ripe the yellow fruits are around 3cm in diameter.[6] Flowering normally appears around November to May.[7]
Occurrence
editThe yellow-fruit nightshade is cultivated in the Himalayas, southeast Malaysia, Australia, and Polynesia.[8] It is commonly found in open spaces, along roadsides, and elsewhere in India.
Medicine
editIn-vitro antioxidant and in-vivo antimutagenic properties of Solanum xanthocarpum seed extracts have been examined by qualitative phytochemical screening, which reveals the presence of polyphenols, flavonoids, glycoside, alkaloids, carbohydrates, and reducing sugar in the plant. Based on preliminary qualitative phytochemical screening, quantitative estimation of polyphenols in the plant has also been performed. The quantitative estimation of alcoholic extracts found significant amounts of polyphenols, as compared to aqueous extracts. In-vitro antioxidant studies have been performed by two methods: DDPH, and a superoxide radical scavenging method. The alcoholic extracts showed significant antioxidant properties, as compared to aqueous extracts. Based on polyphenols and antioxidant properties, alcoholic extracts were used for the antimutagenic (clastogenic) test. The alcoholic extracts produced significant results regarding the antimutagenic activity.[9]
Gallery
edit-
The plant -
The flowers -
The immature fruits -
Unripe (green) and ripe (yellow) -
A fruit opened
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See also
edit
- Asian eggplants:
- Thai eggplant, common cultivar types in Thailand are 'Thai Purple', 'Thai Green', 'Thai Yellow', and 'Thai White' (cultivars of Solanum melongena).
- Lao eggplant for common cultivar types in Laos such as 'Lao Green Stripe', 'Lao Purple Stripe', 'Lao Lavender', and 'Lao White' (cultivars of Solanum melongena).
- African eggplant, gboma, or gboma eggplant (Solanum macrocarpon): Cà pháo is used too in Vietnamese cuisine (Vietnamese eggplant?)
Note
editReferences
edit- ^ "Solanum virginianum L." Plants of the World Online. Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. 2017. Retrieved 7 September 2020.
- ^ NRCS. "Solanum virginianum". PLANTS Database. United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Retrieved 17 November 2015.
- ^ René T. J. Cappers, Reinder Neef, Renée M. Bekker, Digital Atlas of Economic Plants: Acanthaceae - Hypoxidaceae, Vol. 2A, Barkhuis, 2009, p. 269
- ^ Michel H. Porcher, Know your eggplants - Part 4:The related Nightshades
- ^ Gokhale, Mahesh &, S.S.Shaikh & Chavan, Niranjana &, S.V.Toro. (2013). Floral wealth of Achara- A sacred village on central west coast of India.
- ^ Rémi Tournebize, Points on the ethno-ecological knowledge and practices among four Scheduled Tribes of the Nilgiris: Toda, Kota, Alu Kurumba and Irula, with emphasis on Toda ethnobotany, Institute of Research for Development (Marseille), Thesis 2013, p. 103
- ^ "Flowers of India: Thorny Nightshade". Retrieved 2023-08-28.
- ^ "Solanum surattense Burm. f." Archived from the original on 2020-08-06. Retrieved 2023-07-13.
- ^ Antioxidant and Antimutagenic (Anticlastogenic) Effect of Solanum xanthocarpum seed extracts. Santosh Kumar Vaidya, Dharmesh K. Golwala and Darpini S. Patel. International Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Nanotechnology (ISSN: 0974-3278) 2020: Volume 13, Issue 4, page 5005-5010.[1]