Common Name:

General Information

Solanum aculeatissimum is a spiny, erect, few-branched shrub producing one or a few stems from the base that grow 50 - 200cm tall. The lower branches are ascending whilst the upper ones are spreading[].
The plant has a wide range of local medicinal applications. It is semicultivated as a prickly hedge plant.

Known Hazards

The fruits are considered to be toxic[]. The sliced fruit is used as bait for cockroaches[].
Although providing many well-known foods for people, including the potato, tomato, pepper and aubergine, most species in this genus also contain toxic alkaloids. Whilst these alkaloids can make the plant useful in treaing a range of medical conditions, they can also cause problems such as nausea, vomiting, salivation, drowsiness, abdominal pain, diarrhoea, weakness and respiratory depression[].
Unless there are specific entries with information on edible uses, it would be unwise to ingest any part of this plant[].

Botanical References

Range

Widely spread through tropical Africa, it is also found in Brazil. It is unclear to which area it was originally native[].

Habitat

In Africa it is found on the edges of gallery, sclerophyll, rain or mountain forest, secondary vegetation, roadsides, savannahs or secondary bamboo forest, usually at elevations from 1,000 - 2,400 metres, rarely descending almost to sea level[].

Properties

Medicinal Rating
Other Uses Rating
Habit	Shrub
Height	1.50 m
Cultivation Status	Semi-cultivated, Wild

Cultivation Details

Not known

Edible Uses

None known

Medicinal

The sap of roasted fruits is taken as a parturient to induce labour[].
A decoction of the fruit is administered as an enema to cure constipation[].
Smoke from the burning fruits is inhaled to cure toothache[].
The fruit sap is used as eye drops to treat trachoma[]. The fruit is pressed to the forehead as a remedy for headache, and to the skin in order to cure skin infections[].

Warm leaves are ground in water and the extract is administered as an enema as an abortifacient or purgative[].
The sap from the leaves and fruit is applied to warts299].

The roots are purgative[]. A decoction is drunk to cure back pain, male impotence and flatulence[]. A root maceration is drunk to treat snakebites[].

The plant contains a number of medically active compounds, especially alkaloids. Solasonine is the major glycoalkaloid in the leaves, stems, fruits and seeds, whilst some of the minor alkaloids isolated are solamargine, solanine and solasodine[]. The highest concentration of alkaloids is found in the seed (4.4%)[].
Mature fruits contain the steroids diosgenin, β-sitosterol and lanosterol.[].
Roots contain the steroidal saponins aculeatiside A and B, which are precursors of steroid hormones[].

Agroforestry Uses:

The plant is used in Asia as a rootstock for tomato and aubergine plants[].
Semi-cultivated as a prickly hedge plant[].

Other Uses

The sliced fruit is used as a bait to kill cockroaches[].
An ethanol extract of the leaves has been shown to inhibit spore germination of the fungal cabbage disease black spot[].
Extracts of the leaves and fruits were shown to have a repellent, but not an insecticidal effect on the cabbage aphid[].

Propagation

Seed - sow in trays in a nursery. Prick out the seedlings into individual pots when they are large enough to handle and grow them on fast. Plant them out when 10cm or more tall.
Cuttings of half-ripe wood. Very easy, the cuttings root within a couple of weeks.

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