Solanum aethiopicum

Solanum aethiopicum, the bitter tomato, Ethiopian eggplant, or nakati, is a fruiting plant of the genus Solanum mainly found in Asia and Tropical Africa. It is also known as Ethiopian nightshade, garden eggs, pumpkin-on-a-stick, and mock tomato. It is a popular vegetable in north-east India, and is known as khamen akhaba in Manipuri and samṭawk in Mizo. They are called Titay bii or simply bii in Darjeeling, Sikkim and Nepal, and are relished with meat, particularly pork. These names are a result of its varied morphology, with ripe fruit often looking like a cross between an eggplant and a tomato, which are also from Solanum. In fact, the Ethiopian eggplant was so much confused with the ordinary eggplant that this was considered by some a variety violaceum of S. aethiopicum.

Description

A herb or shrub. It grows 1-2 m tall. It can grow from 2 to several years. The leaves have shallow lobes. There are 2-6 flowers. The fruit are large, round and uneven shape. They are orange-red. Fruit shape can vary. There are 3 main sub groups. One is mainly for fruit and the other is mainly for leaves.

Edible Uses

The fruit can be eaten raw or cooked, either when immature or fully ripe. Unripe, bitter fruits are eaten like aubergine, typically fried, and the fruit can also be used as a flavouring for other foods. The large fruits of the Gilo and Kumba cultivar-groups are cooked in stews or eaten raw. The orange-red fruit is about 25mm in diameter. The very young leaves are said to be edible when cooked, though they have a bitter flavour and are used like spinach. Young shoots are stripped of their numerous flowers and buds, then finely cut for use in soups. Caution is advised regarding toxicity.

Traditional Uses

The fruit are cooked and eaten. They are also used to flavour other foods. They can be pickled. The young shoots, stripped of flowers and buds are sliced and finely cut for use in soups.

Medicinal Uses

The roots and fruits are used as a carminative and sedative, and to treat colic and high blood pressure. The crushed and macerated fruits are used as an enema. Leaf juice is used as a sedative to treat uterine complaints. An alcohol extract of the leaves is used as a sedative, anti-emetic and to treat tetanus following an abortion.

Known Hazards

Although no specific mention of toxicity has been seen for this species, it belongs to a genus where many if not all the members have poisonous leaves and sometimes also the unripe fruits.

Distribution

It is a subtropical plant. It can grow in arid places. It grows in the savannah. In China it grows between 400-1,800 m above sea level.

Where It Grows

Africa, Angola, Asia, Australia, Benin, Botswana, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Caribbean, Central Africa, Central African Republic, CAR, Chad, China, Comoros, Congo DR, Congo R, Côte d'Ivoire, Djibouti, East Africa, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Europe, France, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinée, Guinea-Bissau, India, Italy, Ivory Coast, Japan, Kenya, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mediterranean, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, North Africa, Northeastern India, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Southern Africa, South America*, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, West Africa*, Zambia, Zimbabwe,

Cultivation

A plant of the moist tropics, it can also be grown as an annual crop in the temperate zone as long as it can be given a growing season of at least 4 months. It grows best in areas where annual daytime temperatures are within the range 20 - 30°c, but can tolerate 10 - 40°c. It is not tolerant of frosts. It prefers a mean annual rainfall in the range 1,200 - 1,600mm, but tolerates 800 - 4,000mm. An easily grown plant, it succeeds in most moderately fertile, well-drained soils when growing in a sunny position. A soil too rich in nitrogen will encourage leaf growth at the expense of flowering, and so will reduce the yield of fruit. Prefers a pH in the range 5.5 - 7, tolerating 4.3 - 8.5. Young plants grow rapidly and flowering starts from 40 - 100 days after sowing. As the first flowers are initiated, branching and subsequent production of smaller leaves occurs. Growth and flowering may continue indefinitely, but are suppressed once sufficient fruits have set. The preferred weight for fruits of Gilo Group and Kumba Group is 30 - 40g. One plant may produce from 500 g to about 8 kg of fruits, depending on the cultivar and growing conditions. Without irrigation, yields are 5 - 8 t/ha, and with irrigation 12 - 20 t/ha. Improved cultivars grown under favourable conditions may yield 50 - 80 t/ha. Fruits of Kumba Group have mean weights of 70 - 120 g, sometimes even over 200 g; yield is 10 - 20 t/ha. Under good management, farmers growing cultivars of Shum Group can get up to 75 leaf bundles of 30 kg each per 100 m2. This means that the crop has a yield potential of 225 t/ha. The average leaf yield during the dry season for a once-over harvest, however, is only 30 t/ha. This is a food crop that is difficult to characterize as a whole, with a great plasticity and grown in a variety of habitats ranging from dry rocky outcrops and grasslands to forests. Because of their morphological diversity, various cultivars of S. Aethiopicum have previously been described as many different species, and have been confused with S. Incanum and other species. Four cultivar-groups are now recognised, as follows:- S. Aethiopicum Gilo Group. The fruits, which are like hens' eggs or many other shapes and sizes, and scarlet when ripe, are eaten unripe, cooked in stews or even raw. Plants in this group thrive in full sun in woodland savannah on fairly deep and well-drained soils with pH 5.5 - 6.8, and in temperatures of 25 - 35°c during the day and 20 - 27°c at night. S. Aethiopicum Shum Group. Grown in tropical Africa, especially in Cameroon and Uganda. The glabrous small-leaved shoots are cooked as spinach. This group thrives under warm, humid conditions and will drop their leaves when it gets dry. In Uganda they are grown in drying swamps during the dry season. S. Aethiopicum Kumba Group. Grown in sub-Sahelian W Africa, especially Senegal, in the wet season. The large glabrous leaves are cooked as spinach: subsequently the large, sweet, ribbed fruits are eaten raw or cooked in stews. This group thrives in very hot conditions, with temperatures up to 45°c during the day and air humidity sometimes as low as 20%, especially if they are irrigated. S. Aethiopicum Aculeatum Group. These prickly ornamental plants with attractive but very bitter scarlet fruits possess some disease resistance so they are used for breeding and as rootstocks for S. Melongena in Japan. There are some named varieties in in Shum and Gilo groups. The bitter and small-fruited, prickly and hairy ancestor, S. Anguivi occurs throughout tropical Africa. Slugs really love the young plants and will totally destroy them if given half a chance.

Propagation

Seed - sow in a sunny position in sandy soil in a nursery seedbed or in containers. Germination takes 5–9 days for the Gilo and Shum Groups, but only 3–5 days for the Kumba Group, though the latter may show seed dormancy and tends to produce few seeds per fruit. Seedlings can be transplanted to the field after 30–35 days, when they have 5–7 leaves and are 15–20cm tall.

Other Uses

Some cultivars of the Aculeatum Group are occasionally used as a rootstock for tomato and eggplant.

Production

Yields of fruit can be 40 t / hectare

Other Information

It is a commercially cultivated vegetable. It is one of the most common vegetables in tropical Africa. It is exported to Europe. It is grown commercially in Brazil.

Notes

There are about 1400 Solanum species.

Nutrition

Synonyms

Also Known As

African scarlet eggplant, Angivy, Azoko, Binsukula, Biwansi, Ethiopian eggplant, Garden egg, Gilo, Golden apple, Iman, Impwa, Jaxato, Jaxatu, Kainton'ko, Kinsumba, Kouwoundou, Kumba, Losuke, Love apple, Mbolongwa, Mock tomato, Nakasuga, Nakati, Ngogwe, Osun, Ruffed tomato, Tchidifule, Tokalu, Udiagato, Xulune, Yebe, Yekodiye

References (67)

• Abbiw, D.K., 1990, Useful Plants of Ghana. West African uses of wild and cultivated plants. Intermediate Technology Publications and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. p 35
• Amoen. acad. 4:307. 1759
• Achigan-Dako, E, et al (Eds), 2009, Catalogue of Traditional Vegetables in Benin. International Foundation for Science.
• Akinola, R., et al, 2020, A Review of Indigenous Food Crops in Africa and the Implications for more Sustainable and Healthy Food Systems. Sustainability 2020, 12, 3493;
• Andabati, B., & Muyonga, J., 2014, Phenolic content and antioxidant activity of selected Ugandian traditional medicinal foods. African Journal of Food Science. 8(8), pp 427-434

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