Witnessed by: Ayurveda · Unani
Yellow-berried nightshade (Solanum virginianum), of the Solanaceae family. Prostrate, very thorny herb with yellow berries; native range: India and south-west Asia; a thorny wayside weed of dry ground. Globally recognized as kantakari, nidigdhika in Sanskrit, kateli, bhatkataiya in Hindi, hadaq in Arabic, and yellow-berried nightshade, Thai green eggplant, wild eggplant in English. The part used is whole plant, root, fruit and seed. Bitter, spiny herb bearing round, yellow-marbled berries.
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.
YELLOW-BERRIED NIGHTSHADE
IDENTITY
Name
- Common
- Yellow-berried nightshade
- Scientific name
- Solanum virginianum L.
- Family
- Solanaceae
Form
- Part used
- whole plant, root, fruit and seed
PROPERTIES
Nature
Taste
how the plant declares itself on the tongue
- Ayurveda
- pungent · bitter (katu, tikta)
- Unani
- pungent · bitter
Temperature
Ayurveda: heating (ushna)
Unani: hot & dry (2nd degree)
convergence: both {witness_count} witnesses reckon it hot and dry
Affinity
where in the body it travels
Organs / channels
- Unani
- lungs · stomach
PRACTICE
Virtue
Actions
- Ayurveda
- kasahara (relieves cough), shwasahara (relieves asthma), deepana (digestive) and jvaraghna (antipyretic); a chief drug for cough, asthma and fever, and a member of the Dashamula
- Unani
- mukhrij-e-balgham (expectorant), muhallil (resolvent) and mudirr-e-baul (diuretic); for cough, asthma, chronic fever and dropsy
Cautions
- Contraindications
- pregnancy; excess (a Solanaceous plant bearing steroidal glyco-alkaloids)
- Toxicity
- unripe berries and large doses may cause nausea, vomiting and cardiac and CNS disturbance from solasodine alkaloids
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