Yellow-fruit nightshade
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clade:	Asterids
Order:	Solanales
Family:	Solanaceae
Genus:	Solanum
Species:	S. virginianum
Binomial name
Solanum virginianum L.
Synonyms[1]
List Solanum arabicum Dunal Solanum armatum Forssk. Solanum ferox Burm.f. Solanum gula Buch.-Ham. Solanum jacquinii Willd. Solanum jacquinii Miq. Solanum macannii Santapau Solanum mairei H.Lév. Solanum melongena Wall. Solanum surattense Burm.f. Solanum virginicum L. Solanum xanthocarpum Schrad.

Solanum virginianum, also called Surattense nightshade,^[2] yellow-fruit nightshade, yellow-berried nightshade, Indian nightshade, Thai green eggplant, or Thai striped eggplant (from the unripe fruit),^[3] is a medicinal plant used mostly in India. Some parts of the plant, such as the fruit, are poisonous.^[4] Solanum surattense Burm. f. and Solanum xanthocarpum Schrad. and Wendl. are synonyms of Solanum virginianum L. (Sharma et al., 2010).

Thorny Nightshade is an erect herb, that is sometimes woody at the base, and measures 50–70 cm (20–28 in) tall. It is copiously armed with sturdy, needlelike, and broad-based prickles measuring 0.5-2cm x 0.5-1.5mm.^[5]

The plant has ovate-oblong, sinuated leaves that are unequally paired, with blades measuring 4-9cm × 2-4.5cm. They have an acute apex, unequal lobes and are either pinnate or possessive of usually 5-9 lobes. The veins and stalks of the leaves are prickly, and the stalks have a length of 2-3.5cm.

The racemose inflorescence of the plant is 4-7cm tall, and the bell-shaped sepal tube has a diameter of 1cm.

The blue-purple flowers measure 1.4–1.6 cm × 2.5 cm. The petals are ovate-deltate, measure 6–8mm, and are densely pubescent with stellate hairs. The filaments have a measurement of 1mm, the anthers 8mm, and the style 1cm.

The yellow-fruit nightshade’s fruiting pedicels are 2–3.6cm tall. They have prickles and sparse stellate hairs, while the fruiting sepals are prickly and sparsely pubescent. Pale yellow berries of 1.3–2.2cm in diameter are produced, when ripe the yellow fruits are around 3cm in diameter.^[6] Flowering normally appears around November to May.^[7]

The yellow-fruit nightshade is cultivated in the Himalayas, southeast Malaysia, Australia, and Polynesia.^[8] It is commonly found in open spaces, along roadsides, and elsewhere in India.

In-vitro antioxidant and in-vivo antimutagenic properties of Solanum xanthocarpum seed extracts have been examined by qualitative phytochemical screening, which reveals the presence of polyphenols, flavonoids, glycoside, alkaloids, carbohydrates, and reducing sugar in the plant. Based on preliminary qualitative phytochemical screening, quantitative estimation of polyphenols in the plant has also been performed. The quantitative estimation of alcoholic extracts found significant amounts of polyphenols, as compared to aqueous extracts. In-vitro antioxidant studies have been performed by two methods: DDPH, and a superoxide radical scavenging method. The alcoholic extracts showed significant antioxidant properties, as compared to aqueous extracts. Based on polyphenols and antioxidant properties, alcoholic extracts were used for the antimutagenic (clastogenic) test. The alcoholic extracts produced significant results regarding the antimutagenic activity.^[9]

• 
  The plant
• 
  The flowers
• 
  The immature fruits
• 
  Unripe (green) and ripe (yellow)
• 
  A fruit opened

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Solanum virginianum.

• Asian eggplants:
  • Thai eggplant, common cultivar types in Thailand are 'Thai Purple', 'Thai Green', 'Thai Yellow', and 'Thai White' (cultivars of Solanum melongena).
  • Lao eggplant for common cultivar types in Laos such as 'Lao Green Stripe', 'Lao Purple Stripe', 'Lao Lavender', and 'Lao White' (cultivars of Solanum melongena).
• African eggplant, gboma, or gboma eggplant (Solanum macrocarpon): Cà pháo is used too in Vietnamese cuisine (Vietnamese eggplant?)

• "Solanum virginianum L." Germplasm Resources Information Network. Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture.
• "Solanum virginianum L." National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI).