Common Name:

General Information

Solanum mammosum is a shrub growing from a single stem that is around 4cm in diameter at the base; it usually branches near the base, growing around 50 - 200cm tall. Plants are usually strongly armed with broad-based prickles up to 20mm long, though there are occasional unarmed plants[].
The plant is harvested from the wild for local use as a medicine and source of materials. It also has potential for use as a pioneer species when establishing native woodlands and is widely cultivated as an ornamental curiosity for its unusual fruits with their obvious resemblence to a human female breast[, ].
Solanum mammosum is probably originally native to the Caribbean and Central and South America, but is now grown through much of the tropics and subtropics. It often escapes from cultivation and can become established as a weed[]. It is listed as invasive in some Pacific Islands[].

Known Hazards

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

S. America - Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, the Guyanas, northern Brazil; C. America - Panama to S. Mexico; Caribbean - Trinidad to Cuba

Habitat

Grasslands, pastures, roadsides, waste places, secondary growth and cultivated land; usually at elevations below 100 metres, but occasionally reaching 1,800 metres[].

Properties

Weed Potential	Yes
Edibility Rating
Medicinal Rating
Other Uses Rating
Habit	Shrub
Height	1.50 m
Cultivation Status	Cultivated, Ornamental, Wild

Cultivation Details

Solanum mammosum is native to the warm tropics, growing in areas with at least seasonal heavy precipitation[].
Prefers a position in full sun and a well-drained, moist soil[].
Plants can flower and produce fruit all year round[].

Edible Uses

Despite the known toxicity of this species, a report by the Asian Vegetable Research and Development Center in 2002 (The Asian Vegetable Research and Development Center (AVRDC) Report 2002. Shanhua, Taiwan: AVRDC Publications, 182 pp. ) listed Solanum mammosum as a palatable indigenous vegetable of high eating quality, and in the Philippines both the fruits and the leaves have reportedly been eaten as vegetables[]. There are no reports from S. America of this species being edible, indeed it is viewed there as a poisonous plant with medicinal uses. It is possible that there is a mis-identification involved (the species Solanum torvum comes to mind since it is sometimes cultivated for its fruit and has at times been erroneously referred to as Solanum mammosum), or some strains of Solanum mammosum have lower concentrations of alkaloids and can be used as food[].

The following uses are listed here with the above warning.

Young leaves - cooked[]. A good source of vitamin C[].

Fruit - cooked[]. It makes an excellent vegetable, the elongated kind is most cultivated, eaten before it ripens and, before the seed hardens[]. The fruit is a bright yellow or orange-yellow, spherical or depressed-spherical berry 35 - 55mm in diameter, usually narrowed abruptly or gradually to a cylindrical apical "nipple" to 25mm long and 20mm in diameter, and then the whole fruit 40 - 80mm long. The pericarp shiny, tough, glabrous, with spongy, white mesocarp and light greenish pulp containing around 100 seeds[].

Medicinal

The fruit is cooling, purgative[]. It is used to treat coughs and loss of appetite[, ]. The burnt fruit is used in the treatment of liver problems[].
When bruised with vinegar, the fruit is used as a poultice on abscesses and cracked nipples[].

Extracts of the leaf and fruit are taken in order to lose weight and to lower high blood pressure and high cholesterol levels[]
Applied topically, they are used for treating mouth infections and skin wounds[].

The leaves are anodyne and narcotic[]. A decoction is used as a remedy for diseases of the kidneys and bladder, stomach problems etc[, ].
A decoction of the leaves is used for cleansing wounds and teating haemorrhoids[, ].

The peduncle (stalk of flower or fruit) when burned is used as a treatment for piles, toothache and intestinal hemorrahges[].

The seeds are stimulant and said to be used as a remedy for colds[].

A decoction of the roots is taken as a general stimulant and in the treatment of asthma[]. Boiled with sour mik and grain porridge, it is used to treat syphilis[].

Juice of fruit, combined with the pounded leaves and roots, is used to treat a variety of skin diseases[].

The plant is said to be narcotic[].

The species has been used to treat athlete's foot among hunter groups in Belize and Trinidad[].

In Peninsular Malaysia, the plant is used to heal caterpillar rash and the Malays drink the leaf sap to treat fever[].
In Sarawak, fresh fruit juice is used to treat sore eyes in children[].
In Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam, the plant is used to induce narcosis[]

The plant is a source of solasodine, a poisonous, teratogenic, alkaloidal compound that is a precursor to pharmaceutical production of contraceptive pills and has also been the subject of recent research for its diuretic, anticancer, antifungal, cardiotonic, antispermatogenetic, antiandrogenic, immunomodulatory, and antipyretic effects on the central nervous system[].

Agroforestry Uses:

This plant will regenerate quickly, especially on bare ground[]. It is also found in areas of secondary growth and so, with its prickly habit, could be of use as a pioneer species that helps to exclude grazing animals as the young forest trees become established[].

Other Uses

An extract of the fruit is used as an ingredient in commercial cosmetic preparations as an antioxidant[].

The mashed fruit is mixed with tobacco or Mansoa alliacea and rubbed on the feet in order to ward off sand fleas (Tunga penetrans)[].
The Kofan people of Colombia and Ecuador employ the plant as an insect repellant, especially against cockroaches[].
The powdered fruit is considered to be an effective, specific poison for cockroaches[], and has also been used against leaf cutter ants[].

Before soap was common in villages, the juice was used as a detergent to wash clothes[]

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.

Add a Comment:

If you have any useful information about this plant, please leave a comment. Comments have to be approved before they are shown here.

Name:

Email(Private):

Message:

Captcha: Type the digit seven into the box