Solanum anomalum

Thonn. ex Schumach.

Children's tomato

SolanaceaeFruitLeavesPotential hazards — see below

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What to Eat

Edible parts: Fruit, Leaves, Vegetable

The ripe fruit are eaten in soups and sauces as a condiment, or dried, preserved, or fermented. Leaves are occasionally eaten.

Known Hazards

Although providing many well-known foods for people, including the potato, tomato, pepper and aubergine, most species in this genus also contain toxic alkaloids. Whilst these alkaloids can make the plant useful in treaing a range of medical conditions, they can also cause problems such as nausea, vomiting, salivation, drowsiness, abdominal pain, diarrhoea, weakness and respiratory depression. Unless there are specific entries with information on edible uses, it would be unwise to ingest any part of this plant.

Where to Find It

It is a tropical plant. It grows in lowland forests in West Africa. It is often in drier parts of the forest zone. It can grow in arid places.

Africa, Angola, Benin, Cameroon, Central Africa, Central African Republic, CAR, Congo DR, Côte d'Ivoire, East Africa, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mozambique, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Togo, West Africa,

Countries: Angola, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Benin, Botswana, Congo (DRC), Central African Republic, Congo (Republic), Cote d'Ivoire, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Djibouti, Algeria, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Gambia, Guinea, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Comoros, Liberia, Lesotho, Libya, Morocco, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Seychelles, Sudan, Sierra Leone, Senegal, Somalia, South Sudan, Sao Tome & Principe, Eswatini, Chad, Togo, Tunisia, Tanzania, Uganda, South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe

How to Identify

A shrub. It may or may not have thorns. It grows 2-5 m high. The young branches and leaves have a hairy covering. The fruit are round and about 2 cm across. They are yellow-brown.

How to Grow

Propagation: Seed - sow in trays in a nursery. Prick out the seedlings into individual pots when they are large enough to handle and grow them on fast. Plant them out when 10cm or more tall. Cuttings of half-ripe wood. Very easy, the cuttings root within a couple of weeks.

Medicinal Uses

The sap from the leaves and fruits is drunk, or taken by enema 1 - 2 times daily, as a treatment for leprosy and gonorrhoea. The fruits are used as a laxative and digestive. They are also served ground up in soups and sauces as an appetizer for sick persons, sometimes mixed with fruits of Parkia. The crushed fruits are applied to maturate inflammations on fingers or toes. The fruit juice is applied to sores on the ears to alleviate pain.

Other Information

It is cultivated as a food plant. It is a minor vegetable.

Notes

There are about 1400 Solanum species.

Names & Synonyms

Nsusoa, Nsusua twi

Solanum lescrauwaetii De Willd.Solanum warneckianum DammerSolanum pauperum WrightSolanum mannii Wright var. compactum C. H. Wright

References (15)

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 41
Burkill, H. M., 1985, The useful plants of west tropical Africa, Vol. 5. Kew.
Busson, 1965,
Dalziel, J. M., 1937, The Useful plants of west tropical Africa. Crown Agents for the Colonies London.
Facciola, S., 1998, Cornucopia 2: a Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications, p 236
Gbile, Z. O. and Adesina, S. K., 1988, Nigerian Solanum Species of Economic Importance. Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden, Vol. 75, No. 3. p 864
Grubben, G. J. H. and Denton, O. A. (eds), 2004, Plant Resources of Tropical Africa 2. Vegetables. PROTA, Wageningen, Netherlands. p 482
Jardin, C., 1970, List of Foods Used In Africa, FAO Nutrition Information Document Series No 2.p 101
Peters, C. R., O'Brien, E. M., and Drummond, R.B., 1992, Edible Wild plants of Sub-saharan Africa. Kew. p 186
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (1999). Survey of Economic Plants for Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (SEPASAL) database. Published on the Internet; http://www.rbgkew.org.uk/ceb/sepasal/internet [Accessed 11th June 2011]
Samuels, J., 2015, Biodiversity of Food Species of the Solanaceae Family: A Preliminary Taxonomic Inventory of Subfamily Solanoideae. Resources 2015, 4. 277-322
C. F. Schumacher, Beskr. Guin. pl. 126. 1827
Terra, G.J.A., 1973, Tropical Vegetables. Communication 54e Royal Tropical Institute, Amsterdam, p 76
Uphof,
World Checklist of Useful Plant Species 2020. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew