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Botany
An erect, branched and nonspiny shrub
growing to a height of one meter. Leaves are alternate, oblong to lanceolate,
up to 10 cm long, wavy, glossy green above. Flowers are nodal, white
and solitary. Fruit is globose, yellow or reddish, up to 1 cm in diameter.
Distribution
In the Philippines, grown in gardens for
ornamental interest.
Common in commericial botanical garden in Baguio.
Parts
used
Bark, fruit, leaves and
seeds.
Constituents
and medicinal properties
Antimicrobial, antiviral,
antispasmodic, antihypertensive, antioxidant and hepatoprotective.
The roots yielded a high percentage of fatty acids with 41 compounds;
the dominant compound was hexadecanoic acid (24.1%).
Phytochemical studies have yielded alkaloids, glycosides, tannins and
flavonoids.
Berries contain substantial amounts of phosphorus and nitrogen.
Uses
Folkloric
No reported medicinal use in the Philippines.
In India, used in homeopathy
medicine to treat acute lower abdominal pain and somnolence.
In South Africa, reportedly
used for treatment of boils and gonorrhea; orally, as a male tonic and
for abdominal pain.
Studies
• Cytotoxicity: (1)
Methanolic extract reported to have cytotoxic activity.
(2) In vitro cytotoxic properties of O-methylsolanocapsine
isolated from Solanum pseudocapsicum leaves. (3) All five alkaloid fractions
of the methanolic extracts of leaves, ripe fruits, roots, seeds and
stems of SP showed potent cytotoxic activity with the HT-29 cell line
showing the most sensivitivty. The most potent was found in the fraction
of leaves.
• Antioxidant: In
vitro antioxidant properties of Solanum pseudocapsicum leaf extracts:
Crude methanolic extracts exhibited potent antioxidant activity. However,
it exhibited no activity in the scavenging of hydroxyl or superoxide
radicals.
• Antitumor: Antitumor activity
of total alkaloid fraction of solanum pseudocapsicum leaves was tested
against Dalton's Lymphoma Ascites model in mice and revealed increase
in mean survival time and life span of tumor-bearing mice. The observed
activity may be due to its cytotoxic properties.
• Anti-cancer: Study on leaf
extracts has isolated 0-methylsolanocapsine with in vitro cytotoxic
properties against some cancerous cell lines and merits in vivo studies
to confirm its antitumor activity.
• Solacasine / Antibacterial:
Systematic fractionation of alcohol extracts showed solacasine,
a new steroidal alkaloid, to be the main antibacterial constituent.
• Hepatoprotective: Alkaloid
fraction of the methanol extract of Solanum pseudocapsicum was tested
for hepatoprotective activity against CCl4 induced toxicity in rat hepatocytes
and showed antihepatotoxic effect at very low concentrations and suggests
further studies of the alkaloid fraction to identify the active principles.
• Volatile Compounds: Hydrodistillation
yielded 41 compounds (50% of the oil) from the roots of Solanum pseudocapsicum.
The dominant compounds were hexadecanoic acid (24.1%), 2-methoxy-3-isopropylpyrazine
(2.8%) and 15-methylhexadecanoic acid (2.1%). The high proportion of
the fatty acids was considered to be contributory to its medicinal properties.
• Antioxidant: Of
the six extracts of SP tested for antioxidant activity, the crude methanolic
extract showed potent antioxidant activity. The extract also showed
potent scavenging activity against ABTS free radical, however, in a
degree less than the standards used.
Toxicity
concerns !
Studies have implicated the berries in causing central
anticholinergic syndrome chanracterized by thought impairment, recent
memory disturbance, hallucinations, hyperpyrexia, ataxia, drowsiness,
tachycardia, coma among others. Extract studies were predominated by
alkaloids (38.55%). Other plant components detected were aramines, phentamins,
dopamine, fluoxotine and amphetamine derivatives – potent psychostimulant
in humans. Many of the compounds have pharmacological and toxicological
importance in humans and the berries present of source of raw materials
for drug development. (Research
Paper)
Availability
Wildcrafted.
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