Nipplefruit

Overview

Solanum mammosum is considered native to Mexico, Central and South America and possibly the Caribbean. The toxicity of the species has been used as an insecticide and to catch fish in many places. Fruits and foliage of this plant are used as floral arrangements for religious festivals.

Vernacular Names

Wu jiao qie (Chinese), Kanaria wasu (Japanese), Berenjena (Mexico), Jurubeba-do-para (Brazil), Morele molle (French), Terong susu (Malay), Gurito (Cuba).

Agroecology

Solanum mammosum is a weedy shrub of grasslands, pastures, roadsides, waste places, secondary growth and ciltivated, and is confined entirely to the tropics with at least seasonally heavy precipitation, mostly from sea level to 100 m elevation but reaching least 1800 m. It best grown in organically rich, medium moisture, well-drained soils in full sun.

Morphology

• Stems - prickly and covered with soft short hairs.
• Leaves - ovate to oblong-ovate, broad as they are long, 10-25 cm long, armed on both surfaces with long, stout spines, stellate-haity beneath and irregularly and shallowly lobed at the margin.
• Inflorescenses - umbelliform and lateral, with 1-6 flowers.
• Flowers - axilary about 2.5 cm long, purplish or bluish.
• Fruits - freshly, smooth, purple when ripe, up to 25 cm long, extremely variable in shape, rounded, oblong or cylindric-oblong.
• Seeds - compressed, purple-brown, 2-4 mm in diameter, fruit flesh is white.

Cultivation

By seeds. Sow in container or in a seedbed. Plant out into permanent positions when about 8-10 cm tall.

Chemical Constituents

Trigonelline, choline, solanine saponins, mallic, gallic acid, glycoalkaloid, solamargine, ß-carotene.

Traditional Medicinal Uses

• Fruits considered purgative, phlegmatic and generative.
• Studies have suggested repellent, insecticide, antiproliferative, antioxidant, antimalarial, anticancer, anti proliferative and molluscicidal properties
• Leaves are anodyne, narcotic.
• Root decoction taken for asthma and as general stimulant.
• Root, boiled with sour milk and grain porridge used to treat syphilis.
• Roots, dried stalk, and leaves used in decoction for washing sores.
• Juice of fruit with pounded leaves and roots used for a variety of skin diseases.
• Decoction or infusion of leaves used for stomach problems.
• Burnt fruit used for liver problems.
• Fruit used for phthisis, cough and loss of appetite. When bruised with vinegar, is used as a poultice for abscesses.
• Seeds are used as stimulant but may cause dyspepsia and constipation.
• In Costa Rica, decoction of leaves used as remedy for diseases of the kidney and bladder.
• In Yucatan, decoction of leaves used for cleansing wounds.
• In Belize, leaf juices rubbed to afflicted areas with athlete's foot.
• In Bolivia, fruit used for scabies.