Uses for Solanum nigrum

[Sola]

As a result of the wetter conditions experienced throughout much of SA we have a huge amount of S. nigrum self-propagating atm.

I've been wondering what uses it may have as it's in such abundance, I imagine there will also be lots around for a while as the

plants I've seen are very heavy in fruit.

These plants were deliberately introduced to Australia for a reason, whether ornamental or mdeicinal.

And considering they don't have a particularly showy flower and they aren't palatable for stock, I think the intention was medicinal.

So my questions are:

What was it used for?

Which parts of the plant were used?

What dosages were employed?

Any experience or information on this topic is appreciated.

Cheers

Sola

[Foo]

The plant has a long history of medicinal usage, dating back to ancient Greece. This plant is also known as Peddakasha pandla koora in Telangana region. This plant's leaves are used to treat mouth ulcers that happen during winter periods of Tamil Nadu, India. Chinese experiments confirm that the plant inhibits growth of cervical carcinoma (Fitoterapia, 79, 2008, № 7-8, 548-556).

Black nightshade flowers

S. nigrum is a widely used plant in oriental medicine. It is is antitumorigenic, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory,hepatoprotective,diuretic, and antipyretic.

-wikipedia

[herbologist]

The ripe black berries can be used to make jam.

Some links in this thread.... link

[Sola]

Thanks very much eatfoo and herbologist, some very interesting leads.

I like your stencil too, don't suppose I could get that on a t-shirt?

[Foo]

you can, ive seen it around

[Sola]

I'll have to have a look cheers

[paradox]

the ripe berries are delicious just eaten raw.. they have a yum subtle aniseed flavor.. just don't eat the unripe ones.. the usual solonaceous toxins will make you sick..

[Sola]

I'll get a photo to make sure that's what it is and try some tomorrow, cheers.

Should be able to collect heaps.

[Zen Peddler]

ever get paranoid that its deadly nightshade instead?

[Gunter]

ever get paranoid that its deadly nightshade instead?

 

The two species do not resemble one another, Solanum and Atropa are quite different in appearance

[random]

Hey sola did u try the berries yet, and survive? how were they? I'd love some seed if you could get some pls and can you post a pic at all mate pls? I think i saw some recently in ansteys hill and want to compare pics

[random]

P.s i did have some info on aboriginal use of this plant but its stuck on the hard drive of my defunct laptop lol will send it once i get new computer and transfer all my stuff. I've forgotten it sorry, its all on my electronic memory lol!

[Zen Peddler]

The two species do not resemble one another, Solanum and Atropa are quite different in appearance

 

Sorry man its just the black berries that gets me...

[∂an]

has anyone tried smoking the dried flowers or leaves of this common nightshade? trying to make a smoking mix from plants in my backyard.

[Sola]

Hi all,

Sorry for my very slow reply getting pics for this plant. I've been really unwell and only managed to get them earlier today.

Something is definitely eating these plants but rest assured it's not me. I've been way too to try anything that may or may not be alright.

I got heaps of pics today but I think I have the important parts in these pics, all the same let me know if you think you need more or they aren't clear for ID purposes.

There are literally thousands of these plants all through the area. I hope they are the useful one as they're just so prolific.

Thanks and sorry for the extended delay

[opiumfreak]

Can someone get me seeds?

[Francois le Danque]

yes these are quite certainly solanum nigrum. as for seeds i am quite certain that people should be able to find them absolutely everywhere, at least that's how it is in melbourne. so i assume it's similar all over aus, as they are a prolific weed.

as for edibility i am not sure, people always say you can make jam and some friend of mine like to eat them but im not sure this is actually okay or not. i am sure however that a simple search should reveal the constituents of the plant and subsequent edibility.

I like your stencil too, don't suppose I could get that on a t-shirt?

-only at every market stall in the entire UK....lol it's by Banksy, very famous graffiti artist. t shirts abound. personally i think this is one of his poorer works. im so sad all his melbourne pieces got destroyed mere weeks before i decided to go look at them

[Sola]

I didn't realise it was Banksy's work, I've seen and like lots of his other work. I should be able to find a t-shirt really easily then. Cheers

If it is definitely Solanum nigrum then I think it should be edible, as per the above posts and some earlier research.

At least the berries should be alright when they're fully ripe (dark black).

[Alchemica]

Link

"Solanum nigrum L.

Vernacular name: Carachichú.

Part of use: not mentioned.

Report in the 19^th century: tranquilizer.

Current literature: Ethnopharmacology: analgesic, depurative, to treat fever, tonic, tranquilizer and CNS depressor (Dr. Duke's Phytochemical and Ethnobotanical Database, 2008), sedative (Adesina, 1982; Dr. Duke's Phytochemical and Ethnobotanical Database, 2008). Pharmacology: antinociceptive property (Zakaria et al., 2006); can cause a central nervous system depression which may be correlated with an increased parasympathetic tone (Perez et al., 1998), antioxidant (Al-Fatimi et al., 2007); antipyretic and anticancer agent (Hsieh et al., 2008; Hsu et al., 2009; Yang et al., 2010; Li et al., 2008; Li et al., 2009), mutagenic activity (Almeida et al., 2010). Phytochemical: glycoalkaloids (El-Ashaal et al., 1999), tropane alkaloids (Oksman-Caldentey, 2007; Grynkiewicz & Gadzikowska, 2008; Nash et al., 1993), nicotine alkaloids (Oksman-Caldentey, 2007; Boswell et al., 1999), flavonoids (Wollenweber et al., 2005; Huang et al., 2010), sterols (Amir & Kumar, 2004), steroidal saponins (Ikeda et al., 2000; Nakamura et al., 2008; Zhou et al., 2006; Ferreira et al., 1996), pregnane saponins (Zhou et al., 2007), volatile oils and anthocyanins (Jainu & Devi, 2006), steroidal alkaloids, such as solamargine, solasonine and solanine (Sanchez-Mata, et al., 2010; Cornelius et al., 2010; Suthar & Mulani, 2008; Chen et al., 2010) and deacetoxysolaphyllidine-3-O-β-D-glucopyranoside (Colmenares et al., 2010); phenolic compounds with strong oxidative effects (Mimica-Dukic et al., 2005; Lin et al., 2007; Huang et al., 2010; Yang et al., 2010); hydroxycinnamic acid amides (Henriques et al., 2006); steroidal glycosides (Ando et al., 1999) and oligosaccharides of 2-deoxy sugars, which have been reported to possess immunomodulating, antitumor, and anticancer activities (Chen et al., 2009). The cuticular waxes of the leaves of Solanaceae plants are unusual, because they contain significant quantities of branched-chain hydrocarbons in addition to normal hydrocarbons (Szafranek & Synak, 2006). Patent: benzodiazepine compound (USPTO, 2008), weight gain (Espacenet, 2008).

Some Solanum-genera plants have traditionally been used as anti-cancer and anti-herpes agents from olden times (Ikeda et al., 2003). Steroidal alkaloids, such as solamargine induces apoptosis (Shiu et al., 2009) and also solanine induced apoptosis in HepG(2) cells (Ji et al., 2008). Solamargine and solasonine, exhibited an inhibitory effect on serum glucose levels in oral sucrose-loaded rats, and this effect could be relevant for the prevention and treatment of diabetes (Yoshikawa et al., 2007). α-Chaconine, α-solanine, and α-tomatine inhibited normal human liver HeLa (Chang) cells (Lee et al. 2004). β-Solamargine is the main antineoplastic agent in S. nigrum (Hu et al., 1999). Pregnane saponins had been effective in treating diseases such as osteoporosis and premenstrual syndrome in women (Noguchi et al., 2006).

Psychoactive drugs that act as depressors, decrease the activity of the CNS, and can exhibit anxiolytic activity (Walesiuk et al., 2010). Among the species cited, only Physalis angulata and Solanum nigrum were reported as possessing potential CNS-depressor activity, as described in Brazilian Medical Gazettes. In a study made by Perez et al. (1998), an ethanol extract of the fruit of S. nigrum did not show any sedation and motor coordination, but decreased the spontaneous motor activity of the experimental animals and potentiated the pentobarbital-induced hypnosis, indicating a central depressant effect. S. nigrum contain many polyphenolic compounds (Lin et al., 2007), including gallic acid, protocatechuic acid, catechin, caffeic acid, epicatechin, rutin, and naringenin, besides other flavonoids such as, luteolin, quercetin, apigenin, kaempferol and hesperetin (Huang et al., 2010). Flavonoids could to be a subtype-selective partial agonist of GABAA receptors that exhibit anxiolytic effects without sedative, amnesic, myorelaxant, motor incoordination, or anticonvulsant effects, being a promising drug candidate for the treatment of anxiety-like disorders. Glycosilation can influence transport of flavonoids through haemato-encephalitic barrier modifying the entrance into the brain tissue and consequently its neuropharmacological properties (Ren et al., 2010). Luteolin and apigenin were found among the constituents of S. nigrum, and the flavones homoorientin, orientin, vitexin, and isovitexin, derived of apigenin and luteolin, exhibited anxiolytic activity, through positive modulation of GABAA receptor (Grundmann et al., 2008; Fernandez et al., 2009). Quercetin and kaempferol derivatives, such as tiliroside also exhibited anxiolytic-like response and the anxiolytic activity of three Mexican Tilia species was attributed for these flavonoids occurrence independently of the kind of glycosides present in the samples (Aguirre-Hernandez et al., 2010). Tiliroside was isolated from Solanum crinitum Lam (Cornelius et al. 2010). The effects of flavonoids as CNS active substances probably are related to the dose administered, because anxiolytic-like activity was observed at lower dose while sedative-like activity was observed at higher dose (Deng et al., 2010)."

[Sola]

Thanks heaps Alchemica, that's awesome information. Are the anticancer and compounds that may be of use for anxiety in the leaves?

Sounds interesting, I'm pleased I've properly ID'd this one as most people here call it deadly nightshade and spray them.

Sounds like this plant could be very useful for a number of reasons.

Cheers

[Alchemica]

Sorry for the delayed reply.

The anticancer (breast, hepatoma, melanoma to name a few) components seem to be present in both the fruit and leaf (water extracts) and whole plant. The most studied sedative component seems to be the ripe fruit but that probably extends to other parts of the plant. You'd want to watch out for solanine, see below.

"The leaves were found to be richer in polyphenols than stem and fruit. SN leaves contained the highest concentration of gentisic acid, luteolin, apigenin, kaempferol, and m-coumaric acid. However, the anthocyanidin existed only in the purple fruits. Additionally, the cytotoxicity of the leaf, stem, or fruit extract was evaluated against cancer cell lines and normal cells. The results showed that AU565 breast cancer cells were more sensitive to the extract. Furthermore, the results demonstrated a significant cytotoxic effect of SN leaf extract on AU565 cells that was mediated via two different mechanisms depending on the exposure concentrations. A low dose of SN leaf extract induced autophagy but not apoptosis. Higher doses (>100 μg/mL) of SN leaf extract could inhibit the level of p-Akt and cause cell death due to the induction of autophagy and apoptosis. However, these findings indicate that SN leaf extract induced cell death in breast cells via two distinct antineoplastic activities, the abilities to induce apoptosis and autophagy, therefore suggesting that it may provide a useful remedy to treat breast cancer." [Link]

Re toxicity:

High concentrations of solanine, a glycoalkaloid is found in most parts of Solanum nigrum, but highest levels are found in unripe berries of Sn. However, when ripe, the berries are the least toxic part of the plant and are sometimes eaten without ill effects. Similarly, the solanine increases in the leaves as the plant matures (Cooper and Johnson, 1984). Solanine presented in Figure 1 may be separated by chromatography into six components: Alpha, beta gamma chaconines, and alpha, beta gamma solanines (Merck, 1989).

 

From the same article, this review goes into a bit more detail:

A review of the pharmacological aspects of Solanum nigrum Linn.

This article reviews, bridges the gap between the folkloric use of Solanum nigrum linn. (Sn) and the results of evidence based experiments. Although Sn is a rich source of one of plants most dreaded toxins solanine, it has appreciably demonstrated its potential as a reservoir of antioxidants having hepatoprotective, anti-tumor, cytostatic, anti-convulsant, anti-ulcerogenic and anti-inflammatory effects. The review encompasses in-vitro, in vivo and clinical studies done on Sn, while examining whether or not correct scientific measures have been taken in generating experimental evidences for its traditional uses. This review would afford research scientist to know how much is known and what is left undone in the investigation of Sn.

Plenty more out there on the topic.

Edited July 5, 2011 by Alchemica