Solanum nigrum - Kakamachi

Kakamachi

Kakamachi fruits

Kakamachi European black nightshade (Solanum nigrum) or locally just black nightshade, duscle, garden nightshade, garden huckleberry, hound's berry, petty morel, wonder berry, small-fruited black nightshade, or popolo) is a species in the Solanum genus, native to Eurasia and introduced in the Americas, Australasia, and South Africa. Parts of this plant can be toxic to livestock and humans. Nonetheless, ripe berries and cooked leaves of edible strains are used as food in some locales, and plant parts are used as a traditional medicine.

Medicinal uses

• The plant has a long history of medicinal usage, dating back to ancient Greece. "... In the fourteenth century, we hear of the plant under the name of Petty Morel being used for canker and with Horehound and wine taken for dropsy." It was a traditional European medicine used as a strong sudorific, analgesic and sedative with powerful narcotic properties, but was considered a "somewhat dangerous remedy". Internal use has fallen out of favor in Western herbalism due to its variable chemistry and toxicity, but it is used topically as a treatment for herpes zoster.

• Kakamachi is an important ingredient in traditional Indian medicines. Infusions are used in dysentery, stomach complaints, and fever. The juice of the plant is used on ulcers and other skin diseases.The fruits are used as a tonic, laxative, appetite stimulant, and for treating asthma and "excessive thirst".Traditionally the plant was used to treat tuberculosis. It is known as peddakasha pandla koora in the Telangana region. This plant's leaves are used to treat mouth ulcers that happen during winter periods of Tamil Nadu, India. It is known as manathakkali keerai in Tamil Nadu and kaage soppu in Karnataka, and apart from its use as a home remedy for mouth ulcers, is used in cooking like spinach. In North India, the boiled extracts of leaves and berries are also used to alleviate liver-related ailments, including jaundice. In Assam, the juice from its roots is used against asthma and whooping cough.

• Kakamachi is a widely used plant in oriental medicine where it is considered to be antitumorigenic, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, hepatoprotective, diuretic, and antipyretic.

• Solanum nigrum is known to contain solasodine (a steroidal glycoalkaloid that can be used to make 16-DPA progenitor); a possible commercial source could be via cultivating the hairy roots of this plant.

Common name

• Kannada - ಗನಿಕೆ ಹಣ್ಣು
• Hindi - Makoi