Solanum nigrum
*Warning: The validity of the species is nowadays disputed and authors consider it a mere synonym of Solanum americanum
Solanum nigrum, the nightshade herb, among many other vernacular words, is a herbaceous plant of the Solanaceae family; It grows wild almost everywhere in the world.
Description
It is an annual species, possibly woody at its base, unarmed, subglabrous, pubescent or hairy, with erect or decumbent ramified stems 30-80 cm high. The leaves, 2.5-7 by 2-6 cm, are ovate-rhombic or ovate-lanceolate, entire or sinuate, toothed with a 1-4 cm petiole. The inflorescences, pedunculated but not axillary, are in lax racemiform cymes with 3-10 actinomorphic, hermaphroditic and pedicelate flowers. The calyx is small, bell-shaped, five-lobed (with rounded lobes and generally retroressed when fruiting), while the rotated corolla has 5 ovate-lanceolate lobes, acute, patently white, or even retroressed. The fruits are centimeter berries, subglobose, green when immature, and black, shiny and smooth when ripe. The seeds are spiral-shaped, compressed, finely alveolate, two millimeters in size, and beige/orange in color.
Distribution and habitat
Native to Eurasia and introduced to the Americas, Australasia and South Africa. It grows on roadsides, crop edges, dumps, etc... between sea level and 1200 m altitude. It blooms and bears fruit all year round.
Uses
- Toxicity
Solanine, like other alkaloids (chaconine and solasonine) present in the fruit and leaves of the plant, is highly toxic to animals and humans. Poisoning causes vomiting, stomach pain, drowsiness, increased temperature and in extreme cases, paralysis and finally death from heart failure. The concentration of solanine depends on the degree of ripeness of the fruits, the growing land and the nutritional conditions of the plant, and cannot be predicted with the naked eye. Its toxicity means that the infusion is sometimes used as an insecticide to protect crops.
- Medicinal
In popular medicine, the leaves or their cold infusion are used as a sedative, anti-inflammatory, antipyretic and purgative; overdose, however, can be fatal.
- Food
Despite its possible toxicity, in El Salvador, it is commonly used as food to prepare highly nutritional soups, adding to its leaves, vegetables, meat (chicken), highly appreciated by a large majority of the Salvadoran population. It is sold in markets both in the interior and in the capital, and both peasant families and popular urban families have consumed it since time immemorial.
Since cooking partly destroys the solanine, the ripe fruits have occasionally been used in jams and preserves.
Taxonomy
The species was named by Carlos Linnaeus and published in Species Plantarum, vol. 1 p. 186 [1], 1753
- Synonyms
Vernacular names
Uvas de perro, beninas, bleo negro, borachera, cenizos, ceñiglos (2), ceñilos, chirinchos, ciñilos, diablos, tomato gajo, genijo, guinda de perro, blackberry grass (28), black grass, black grass, Hierbamora (2), jajo borriquero, jajo caballar, jajo creeping, snake bread, hoe pick (2), peppers, blackberry plant, black nightshade (5), devil's tomato (9), tomato plant, edge tomato plant, Moorish tomato plant, black tomato, tomatilla, edge tomatillo, devil's tomatoes (2), tomatico, devil's tomaticos, tomatilla, tomatillo (3), devil's tomatillo (2), black tomatillo (2), fox tomatillo, tomatillos (3), Devil's Tomatillos (10), Green Tomatillos, Tomatina, Tomatito, Tomatitos, Devil's Tomatoes, Ugueros, Dog Uva, Snake Grapes (2), Dog Grapes (4), Devil's Grapes, Poisons, Blackberry (7), Spanish yerba mora, Italian yerba mora, yerba mora minor, yerba morisca, yerba-cotones, yerbos moros. In brackets, the frequency of the word in Spain.