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View crop Data sheet EcoPortSolanum nigrum
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Notes |
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BRIEF DESCRIPTION A herbaceous plant reaching a height of 60-75 cm. Stem and branches are slightly pubescent, green in color with a purplish tinge. The leaves are 9-9 cm long and 4-6 cm wide. The flowers are white and the berries blacken on ripening. USES It is cooked locally as a potherb and its ripe berries are used in pies and preserves. Its tender shoots are boiled and eaten like spinach or eaten in soups. Fruits and young leaves have medicinal properties. GROWING PERIOD Annual, growing 80- 110 days before first harvest. COMMON NAMES Black nightshade, Sunberry, Wonderberry, Morelle noir, Herbe a calalou, Yerba Mora, Zwarte Nachtschade, Odu, Efodu, Poisonberry, Stubbleberry, Enab el-deeb, Goutan kadji, Afufa, Mtura, Ndura, Ogumo, Igba yirin elegun. FURTHER INF Scientific synonym: S. fistolosum, S. nodiflorum. Black nightshade has a reputation for being a poisonous plant, due to the presence of the alkaloid solasonine. The friuts of this species of Solanum should however be edible. Grown throughout the tropics, it is often regarded as a weed. |
Sources |
SOURCES (Solanum nigrum L.) Hackett C 1982 pp 15 240 [FER, PHO, DEP, PH, TEMP] Tindall H 1983 pp 370-371 [FER, DRA, LIG, TEMP, PHO] Roecklein J 1987 pp 313 [USE] Duke J 1975 pp 27 [PH, RAIN, TEMP] Iwu M 1993 pp 239 [USE] |