Solanum villosum (Sanskrit-Kovidaraha/Raktokovidaraha, Popular-Yellow Nightshade/Hairy Nightshade/Red-fruited Nightshade)Solanaceae. Syn-S.alatum, S. luteum, S. nigrum var. villosum. It is a common weed distributed in many parts of India. It is a brittle stemmed perennial plant growing upto 60 cm height. Leaves are rhombic to ovate-lanceolate, 2 to 7 cm long and 1.5 to 4 cm broad, margins entire to sinuate-dentate. Inflorescence is simple, corolla 3 to 7mm in diameter, white with a green central portion near the base.Fruit is a globose berry, 6 to 10 mm in diameter having many small seeds, red, bright orange or yellow. It is distributed throughout the tropical and temperate regions of the world including Kenya, China, India and Pakistan. It is an wild edible plant which is used as an Ayurvedic herb with multiple medicinal properties. Its demand continues to increase due to its nutritional and medicinal value. The plant has antioxidant, antibacterial, anti inflammatory, antifungal, antidiabetic, anticancer, analgesic, emollient, diuretic, tonic, laxative, antiulcerogenic, antiparasitic mosquitocidal, antispasmodic, molluscicidal and antidysentric activities. It is a traditionally important plant used in various systems of medicine for the treatment of leucorrhoea, wounds, cold sores and wounds. It forms an important plant of traditional medicine in Africa. The unripe fruits are used to treat toothache. They are also squeezed on baby's gums to ease pain during teething. The leaves are used to treat stomachache. Leaves are applied as a poultice on swellings. Extracts from the leaves and fruits are used to treat tonsillitis. Fruit juice is used to calm sore eyes. Roots are boiled in milk and given to children as a tonic. In western Nilgiris, Tamilnadu, it is used as a food and also consumed as a medicine. It is often used as an ointment for abscesses, sores, wounds, cold sores, nappy rash, eczema and in a douche for leucorrhoea. Leaves are cooked and used as spinach by cardiac patients. Leaves contain vitamins A, B, C, minerals like Fe, Ca, P, fibres, carbohydrates, proteins, phenolics and alkaloids. The major phytoconstituents in the plant are alkaloids, flavonoids, glycosides, saponins, terpenoids, steroids, phenols, tannins, amino acids and proteins. It is cultivated in many countries for its edible fruits. In Africa, it is a preferred vegetable and eaten in different ways. Saponins extracted from the green berries showed 100 percent mortality against larvae of S. Aegypti (dengue causing mosquito).
– Mukherjee Bk
