Plant Profile
Family |
Solanaceae |
Ayurvedic name |
Brihati |
Unani name |
Kateli |
Hindi name |
Jangli bhata |
Trade name |
Bari kateri |
Parts used |
Whole plant,especially roots and fruits |
Solanum indicum - plant
Therapeutic uses
- The Solanum plant is reported to be bitter, acrid, astringent, carminative, stomachic, resolvent, demulcent, diuretic, emmenagogue, febrifuge, and cardiotonic.
- It is useful in the treatment of asthma, catarrh, dropsy, chest pain, chronic fever, colic, dry and spasmodic cough, oedema, scorpion stings, difficult urination, and worm infestation.
Morphological characteristics
- Bari kateri is a stiff, much-branched, prickly shrub growing upto a height of 0.3–1.5 m. Prickles are sharp, often slightly recurved, short hooked, and have a broad compressed base.
- Stem is stout and the branches are covered with minute stellate brown hairs.
- Leaves are ovate in outline, sparsely prickly on both sides, and measure about 5–15 cm × 2.5–7.5 cm.
- They are clothed above with simple hairs and have bulbous base intermixed with small stellate ones, while small stellate hairs cover them on the lower surface.
- Petioles are prickly and about 1.3–2.5 cm long.
Floral characteristics
- Flowers occur in racemose, extra-axillary cymes.
- Pedicels are 6–13 mm long, stellately hairy, and prickly.
- Calyx is 3 mm long, with stellate hair and triangular teeth.
- Corolla is about 8 mm long, pale, purple, clothed outside with darker, purple, stellate hairs; lobes are 5 mm long, deltoid, ovate, and acute.
- Fruit is a globose berry, green with white lining when young and becomes yellow when ripe.
- Sometimes it has a few stellate hairs at the apex.
- Seeds are small, many, and discoid.
- Flowering occurs in September–October, while fruits begin to appear in October.
Distribution
- The species is commonly found throughout the tropical and subtropical India.
Climate and soil
- Brihati grows well in tropical regions where annual rainfall ranges from 1000 mm to 1500 mm.
- Sandy loam soil is found to be suitable for the cultivation of this plant.
- The species is xeric in nature and can grow well in shady places and in areas that receive low rainfall.
- This species may also be inter-cropped in tree plantation sites.
Propagation material
- Seeds can be collected in May–June from mature fruits and can be sown directly in the main field.
- Plantlets can also be raised in nursery through seeds.
Agro-technique
Nursery technique
- Raising propagules Planting material can be raised in nursery in May– June.
- One- to one-and-half-month-old seedlings are planted in the field during July–August.
- Direct seed sowing in a plantation can also be done.
- Seed is sown in well-prepared nursery beds (size 10 m × 1 m) in June in shady places or in temporary mist chambers of size 10 m × 15 m.
- FYM (farmyard manure) @ 50 kg and poultry manure @ 2 kg are mixed in soil at the time of bed preparation before sowing seed.
- Irrigation is done twice a day after sowing to maintain proper humidity.
Propagule rate and pretreatment
- About 4 kg of seeds are required for sowing in the nursery for planting in 1 hectare of land.
- No presowing treatment of seeds is required.
Planting in the field
Land preparation and fertilizer application
- Land preparation is done in June before rains.
- Land should be ploughed well and made weed-free.
- Drainage channels should be constructed in the field.
- This species does not tolerate water stagnation.
- Five tonnes of FYM per hectare is mixed thoroughly at the time of field preparation.
- The FYM should be properly mixed with the soil before rains.
- No inorganic fertilizer is needed.
Transplanting and optimum spacing
- Nursery-raised seedlings are planted in the field with a ball of earth.
- Preferably seeds are directly sown in the well prepared field.
- The germination commences after nine days of sowing and continues till 40 days. Generally, 20–30 days are required for optimum germination.
- A spacing of 30 cm × 30 cm in the field is optimum for good growth and productivity.
- The optimum crop stand is about 111 000 plants/hectare.
Intercropping system
- The species can also be grown as an intercrop beneath fruit-tree orchards.
Interculture and maintenance practices
- First weeding is done 15 days after transplantation or about a month after direct sowing in the field.
- Later, regular weeding is required at an interval of 20 days up to maturity of the plants.
Irrigation practices
- There is no need for irrigation if the annual rainfall is 1200 mm or more.
- During the fruiting period, that is, from November to February, irrigation may be done on alternate days.
- Since this species is perennial in nature, irrigation in the summer months helps the plants to survive.
Disease and pest control
- No serious diseases or insect pests have been observed in crop.
Harvest management
Crop maturity and harvesting
- Best time for harvesting is April after the species is 9–10 months old.
- Follow-up crop can also be obtained if plantation is maintained for second year.
Post-harvest management
- Plucking and collection of fruits are done in April and May.
- Collected fruits should be dried in shade.
- Dried fruits are kept in airtight containers.
- Roots may be dug out manually and washed in fresh water.
- Harvested roots should be dried in the sun for a short time and then in the shade for 10 days.
- Well-dried roots are stored in bags and kept in airtight containers.
- Disposal of the roots should be done within four months of collection, that is, before rains, to avoid fungal infection.
Chemical constituents
- Fruits and roots contain wax and fatty acids.
- Alkaloids solanine and solanidine are present in the roots and leaves.
- Fruits contain 1.8% of alkaloids and can find use in cortisone and sex hormone preparations.
Yield estimates
- About 800 kg of fruits and 300 kg of seeds are obtained as fresh yield per hectare.
- Approximately 20 quintals of dried root is obtained from a two-year-old crop.
Source : Agro-techniques of selected medicinal plants
Last Modified : 7/1/2024
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