Appendix 1.
Philippines
Solanum aethiopicum
Food: Used occasionally as a food.
Medicine: Unknown.
S.americanum/nigrum
Food: Boiled and used for food, but must pour off first two waters in which it is cooked; Leaves and
shoots eaten in North Philippines with mung bean or ginger and salt.
Medicine: Causes vertigo and nausea if you have too much or uncooked plant; A decoction of the
leaves cleanses and heals chronic sores; Lotion for various forms of dermatitis; Lotion for treating erysipelas;
Whole plants can be reduced to a pill to treat hypertension; Whole plants can be drunk to cure abnormal
leukorrhea and pruriti; Seeds can be boiled and broth gargled to treat acute tonsilitis.
S. capsicoides
Food: Not a great food, has bitter taste.
Medicine: Unknown.
S. insanum
Food: Sometimes used for traditional dish 'pakbet'. Remove thorns and calyx before you eat it;
Considered sweeter than purple-red eggplant.
Medicine: Drink concoction of boiled fruits and leaves in water to prevent stomache ache. But only take
it once you have the pain (like a tums tablet); Eating fruit can abort a fetus, avoid if pregnant; Eating while pregnant
may give the baby subi-subi (red patches on the skin, like eczema); Boil leaves in water and use as a wash for skin
allergies. The boiled root mixed with sour milk and grain porridge is used to treat syphilis.
S. lasiocarpum/ferox
Food: Often eaten by the Bugot people; Cook in dish 'diningding' but fruit has to be young; Sour flavor;
Can use in pinakbet with salted fish and garlic, ginger, and coconut oil as adobo; Use with pork with garlic and onions;
High in vitamin A.
Medicine: Eating a lot of the raw fruits have negative effects (mild toxin).
S. macrocarpon
Food: Grill the fruit for dish 'pakbet'; Flavor is like eggplant.
Medicine: Unknown.
S. pseudocapsicum
Food: Not found to be used.
Medicine: Aphrodisiac for chickens: give yellow-orange fruits to chickens to produce more eggs.
S. torvum
Food: Nobody eats it in the lowland, but they do in the upland.
Medicine: Unknown.
S. violaceum
Food: Not found to be used.
Medicine: Cordial; Aphrodisiac; Astringent; Resolvent; Treats asthma , febrile conditions, dry coughs,
colic with flatulence, worms; Vapor of burning seeds for odontalgia; Decoction of leaves used for dysuria; Root
considered diuretic, expectorant, diaphoretic, and stimulant; Leaves placed in infant's cradle to promote sleep; Fruit is a
tonic and laxative.
China
Solanum aethiopicum
Food: Similar bitter taste to bitter melon (Momordica; Cucurbitaceae).
Medicine: Perceived to have the same health benefits as Momordica because they have similar bitter taste
(Momordica used to lower blood sugar, reduce heat).
S. americanum/nigrum
Food: Commonly eaten with egg in a soup; Eating the fruit relieves thirst; Kids like to eat the fruit; Eaten
with fish as a side dish; Eaten together with Yami and another unknown plant; Boil the young shoot in water and serve
with garlic, ginger, small dry fish or egg; Make a soup with salt and egg and/or sliced meat.
Medicine: Ease urination; cool down; detoxify; anti-inflammatory; Used as general medicine by Ami,
Ataya and Tao; Decreases heat of the liver; Only eat a little bit- too much will damage the throat and promote bowel
movement; Some say the unripe berry is toxic; Some tribes avoid eating the plant; Helps digestion; Reduces stomach
pain; Couples that fight should eat it as a meal to lower aggravation; Soup eaten to cure hangover; Detoxify; Increase
urination; anti-carcinogenic; Reduces discomfort of allergies; Reduces side-effects of shock; Leaves and stalks used for
treating cancerous sores, leucoderma, and wounds; Use as tonic for virility in men.
S. capsicoides
Food: It is edible before breaker stage; The inner skin is eaten by some daring tribes.
Medicine: Eating the fruit can induce vomiting.
S. dulcamara
Food: Not found to be used.
Medicine: An infusion of the dried stem is used for arthritis, asthma, heart ailments, rheumatism, spasms,
and whooping cough.
S. erianthum
Food: Not found to be used.
Medicine: General medicine.
S. insanum
Food: Not found to be used.
Medicine: Used to treat relieve liver problems; Eating the fruit helps to increase manliness, stamina.
S. lasiocarpum/ferox
Food: People eat the fruit for dessert.
Medicine: Unknown.
S. lyratum
Food: Not found to be used.
Medicine: General medicine.
S. spirale
Food: Bitter but edible; Used as a leafy vegetable; A traditional Xishuangbanna dish is the leaves of this
plant dipped in egg and fried; Use dried fruits as ingredient in raw or boiled pork fat dishes.
Medicine: Similar to S. violaceum; Lowers heat; Boil the roots and drink as tea.
S. torvum
Food: Use young fruits when they are light in color, soft, and good, to make soups, sauces, or dips for
raw beef; Darker colored fruits are very bitter.
Medicine: Eases digestion.
S. viarum
Food: Not eaten.
Medicine: Given to schizophrenic people to make them calm down; Treats toothache or inflammation in
the mouth.
S. violaceum
Food: Edible but very bitter; Only add 5 fruits to a bowl of soup; ; Cook it on the fire with curry paste
and garlic. You can mix it with other species.
Medicine: Fruit juice relieve pain and enhance vision of eyes of rooster, so used in cockfights; Relieves
liver problems; Soup cools the body and treats throat problems and stomache aches ('viang hong' inflamed intestines);
Heals chicken eyes.
India
S. aethiopicum
Food: Bitter taste green or red; Lightly fry with ginger, tomato, and chili as food; Similar taste to S.
macrocarpon; Hill people eat it, not the people in the planes.
Medicine: Dry fruit powder taken with salt cures stomach disorders.
S. americanum/nigrum
Food: Fruits dried (optional in curd) eaten as side dish.
Medicine: Stimulates appetite; Decoction of this species is given internally, 200-250 grams for
hypertrophy of the liver; Decoction considered good diuretic and alterative; To prepare decoction, heat with water in
clay vessel until color changes from green to brown. Cool and administer the next day; Hydragogue-cathartic;
Decoction for dropsy; Alleviator of all three dosas when vitiated, tonic, purgative, and aphrodisiac. Not too hot or cold
in potency. Cures obstimate skin diseases including leprosy; Small dose (30-60 grams) used in some chronic skin
diseases such as psoriasis.
S. insanum
Food: Boil the fruits for 15 minutes, remove prickles, and eat.
Medicine: The whiter plants are more effective as medicine (meaning more pubescent); Clears cough and
treats chest troubles; Used for solving skin problems; Heat the fruit, apply to toothache. Leave it there 5 minutes; Use
the leaf as topical treatment for skin diseases. Ingestion can cause itching and allergic reactions.
S. lasiocarpum/ferox
Food: Not found to be used.
Medicine: Root an expectorant, treats pain in chest and asthma.
S. macrocarpon
Food: S. macrocarpon is more bitter than S. aethiopicum. Used similarly to S. aethiopicum.
Medicine: Unknown.
S. pseudocapsicum
Food: Some people in Ooty eat it; Spit out seeds if you eat the fruit.
Medicine: Used in homeopathic poisons.
S. torvum
Food: Fruit is used in coagulating milk; Eat it cooked as food; Pickle it in curd to enhance appetite;
Bitterness complements food as a condiment.
Medicine: Used for cough and cold, as sedative and diuretic: boil fruits in water and drink; Appetite
enhancer; General health benefits; Mash the root with tamarind water and administer as an antidote to poisoning; Use
root as a poultice for cracked feet; Apply leaf paste to wounds infected by snake bite; Eat to reduce stomach pain; Fruit
paste used to cure skin disease; Fume of burning seed is inhaled for relief of toothache; Some people use it for blood
sugar regulation (diabetics eat it); Mix with black pepper and ginger to aid digestion; Kills intestinal worms. Root is an
ingredient in Dasamoola.
S. trilobatum
Food: Leaves cooked and eaten.
Medicine: Treats throat cancer.
S. viarum
Food: Not consumed.
Medicine: The root is one of the 10 ingredients in Dasamoola; Smoke the fruit as a cough and throat
tablet.
S. violaceum
Food: Fruits used as a vegetable; Leaf used in preparation of local drink "yi" or "azu".
Medicine: Fruits are burned and smoked to prevent dental caries. Smoke the fruit and the seed to relieve
toothache; Boil the fruit in water and let the water sit, then gargle with it to cure pain and infection in the mouth and
throat; Authentic ingredient in Dasamoola; Expectorant; Root extract remedies asthma, fever, worm complaints; Root
paste applied externally to relieve abscesses; Root used in medicines to teat colic and ulcers. Stem is worn in fever;
Juice of stem and mustard oil boiled and applied on rheumatic joints; Leaf juice used to stop vomit; Fruit is eaten to act
as an antibilious and anthelmintic; Fruit eaten cures piles, headache, and cough; Decoction of fruit and root used in
diarrhea and dysentery.
S. virginianum
Food: Not found to be used.
Medicine: All parts have medicinal uses; Whole plant used to treat asthma and throat pain; Leaf
decoction used as expectorant for control of cough; Leaf extract blended with betel leaf and Azima tetracantha given to
children as an expectorant; Leaf juice mixed with black pepper for rheumatism; Intake of flower promotes digestion;
Root is one of the Dasamoola ingredients: treats cough, asthma, pain in chest; Root of S. virginianum and
Alternanthera sessilis ground with water and administered for urinary troubles; Root paste applied externally to treat
hernia; Make an extract of the plant with sesame oil and apply to paralyzed body part; Fruit juice analgesic, wormicide,
blood purifier, cure sore throat; Seed is eaten to lower fever; Powder of roasted seeds applied to gums to relieve
toothache; Powerful medicine to stop chicken pox. Administer by crushing the root with water and drinking.