Witnessed by: Ayurveda
Purple-fruited pea eggplant (Solanum trilobatum), of the Solanaceae family. Prickly straggling climber with lobed leaves and bluish-purple flowers; native range: peninsular India and Sri Lanka, in hedges and dry scrub. Globally recognized as alarka · kantakari-lata in Sanskrit, alarkapatra in Hindi, and purple-fruited pea eggplant · thai nightshade · climbing brinjal in English. The part used is whole plant, leaf, root, fruit. Hooked prickles, small scarlet berries, and a bitter, acrid, throat-catching taste.
In this cross-tradition database, we analyze how this substance operates across world medicine systems — tracking its traditional tastes, temperatures, tissue affinities, post-digestive effects, and planetary correspondences across Ayurveda, Unani, and Western herbalism.
PURPLE-FRUITED PEA EGGPLANT
IDENTITY
Name
- Common
- purple-fruited pea eggplant
- Scientific name
- Solanum trilobatum L.
- Family
- Solanaceae
Form
- Part used
- whole plant, leaf, root, fruit
PROPERTIES
Nature
Taste
how the plant declares itself on the tongue
- Ayurveda
- bitter · pungent (tikta , katu)
Temperature
- Ayurveda
- heating (ushna)
PRACTICE
Virtue
Actions
- Ayurveda
- kasahara (relieves cough), shwasahara (relieves asthma), kaphavata-hara, dipana, jwaraghna
Cautions
- Contraindications
- the hot sharp herb avoided in high pitta, hyperacidity and bleeding states
- Toxicity
- a nightshade; large medicinal doses of the berry are irritant
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