Botany
Talong-Siam is a half-woody shrub growing 0.5 to 1 meter high. Leaves are oblong-ovate, 5 to 9 cms long, 3.5 to 8 cms wided, blunt at the tip, heart-shaped, square-shaped or pointed at the base, lobed in the margins, and hairy underneath. Flowers are bluish, on 8- to 15-mm stalks, and borne on racemes. Calyx is oblong-triangular, about 4 mm long. Corolla lobes are oblong-lanceolate, about 8 mm long and 5 mm wide. Fruit is yellow or yellow-orange, smooth, somewhat rounded, and up to 1 mm in diameter. Seeds are compressed, pale, copiously punctulate, and 2 mm in diameter.

Distribution
Limited cultivation in Manila.
Seeds originated from Bangkok, Siam.

Properties
Fruits considered anti-diabetic, diuretic and expectorant.

Parts used
Fruit.

Uses
Edibility
In Bangkok, the berries are regular market produce fare.
Folkloric
Used in Siam for diabetes. Ingestion of the berries with each meal used for both cure and prevention. The discovery of the use of the plant by made by the late Dr. Yai S. Sanitwongse.

Availability
Cultivated.
Seeds in the cybermarket.

Additional Sources and Suggested Readings
(1)
Taxon: Solanum sanitwongsei Craib / USDA
(2)
INVESTIGATION OF INSULIN-LIKE PROPERTIES OF UVURSIN, OXYCATALYST, AND SOLANUM SANITWONGSEI BERRIES / M Louisa Long and Fritz Bischoff / J Pharmacol Exp Ther March 1930 38:313-325
(3)
ISSR variations in eggplant (Solanum melongena L.) and related Solanum species / Shiro Isshiki, Naoko Iwata et al / Scientia Horticulturae, Vol 117, Issue 3, 23 July 2008, Pages 186-190 / doi:10.1016/j.scienta.2008.04.003