Abstract:
Introduction: General. The family Solanaceae, to which the Solanurn genus belongs, is
comprised of some 70 genera and approximately 2000 species. Its
members, which are herbs, erect or climbing shrubs and, occasionally,
small trees, are distributed in the tropical and extend to the temperate
regions, the greatest concentration being in Central and Southern
America. The family's chief point of interest chemically is the
fact that many of its members contain alkaloids, well known examples
being Atropa belladonna (containing atropine), Datura strammonium(daturine), Nicotiana tobacum (nicotine), and Solmum tuberosum (solanine).
The Solanum (Latin - solamen, solace or quieting) genus is made up
of some 1,200 species, three of which, S. tuberosum (potato),
S. lycopersicum = Lycopersicum esculentum Mill. ( tomato), and S . nigrum
(a common weed of cultivation), are especially well known. New Zealand
has one endemic species, namely S. aviculare Forst. Agriculturally,
mainly because of S. tuberosum and S. lycopersicum, the genus is of course
an important one but in addition several species are used in horticulture,
e.g. S. pseudocapsicum and S. macrmthum, and a few species, e.g.
S. mammosum and S. dulcamara, are reported as being of medicinal
value. Chemically it is unique, in that may species contain glycosidic
steroidal alkaloids and most attention has been devoted to the characterisation
of these substances, although various other constituents, e.g.
commarins and anthocyanins, have been reported.
