Solanum aethiopicum (Introduced)

Solanum aethiopicum L., Cent. Pl. II 2: 10 1756. (syn: Solanum gilo Raddi; Solanum integrifolium Lam.; Solanum texense Engelm. & A. Gray; Solanum undatum Jacq.);
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Native range is a cultigen from NE. Tropical Africa: Eritrea, Ethiopia; Introduced into: Angola, Assam, Benin, Brazil West-Central, Burkina, Cameroon, Central African Repu, Chad, China South-Central, China Southeast, Colorado, Congo, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Gulf of Guinea Is., Illinois, Ivory Coast, Kentucky, Kenya, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Taiwan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Vietnam, Windward Is., Zambia, Zaïre as per POWO;
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Solanum aethiopicum, the bitter tomato, Ethiopian eggplant (ባሚያ), or nakati, is a fruiting plant of the genus Solanum mainly found in Asia and Tropical Africa. It is also known as Ethiopian nightshade,^[1] garden eggs, and mock tomato. It is a popular vegetable in north-east India, and is known as khamen akhaba in Manipuri and samtawk in Mizo. These names are a result of its varied morphology, with ripe fruit often looking like a cross between an eggplant and a tomato, which are also from Solanum. In fact, the Ethiopian eggplant was so much confused with the ordinary eggplant that this was considered by some a variety violaceum of S. aethiopicum.

Ethiopian eggplant may have originated from the domestication of Solanum anguivi. The scarlet eggplant, also known as Gilo or jiló, was long held to be a distinct species (S. gilo) but is nowadays generally considered to be a cultivar group of S. aethiopicum.

The highly variable fruit of the plant is eaten both raw and cooked and is becoming more popular as a cultivated crop. These fruits are usually harvested while still green, before the skin becomes thick. The bitterness depends on the levels of saponin it contains, some with a sweet flavor and others very bitter. When the berries mature, they turn bright red because of high carotene content.

Currently there is a large movement towards increased cultivation of Solanum aethiopicum in West Africa. It grows all year long and can produce high fruit yields. However, low germination rates are an obstacle to wider cultivation.

(From Wikipedia on 1.7.16)

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Solanaceae Week: Solanum for ID_RKC_05042011. : 7 posts by 3 authors. Attachments (3)

Pl help me to identify this Solanum sp.
Locality: Itanagar, Arunachal Pradesh, 550 m
Date: Feb. 2007.
Local name: Tita baigan
Uses: Eaten as vegetable. Abundantly available in local market. Called as ‘Tita’ baigan due to its bitter taste.
Notes: Probably I am posting this species for the second time. Earlier I thought this to be as Solanum kurzii but could not confirm because of lack of time and different opinions from different taxonomists. Flowers are purple in color and locally grown for vegetable. Interestingly, S. kurzii is included in the Red data list of plants. I shall try to upload the flowering fotos also.

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Tita baingan is Solanum kurzii, eaten as vegetable as per this source
http://nopr.niscair.res.in/IJTK%208(2)%20146-153.pdf
But please let us see the twigs and flowers. It would be interesting. Description in Brandis, Indian Trees is very meagre.

Solanum aethiopicum L. ?? : 7 posts by 3 authors. Attachments (12)

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I think appears so as per images at

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Yes! Solanum aethiopicum. Common in NE India, and popularly known as ”तीता बैंगन (Tita-Baingan)”

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Fwd: Solanum : 9 posts by 4 authors. Attachments (3)

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We are seeing at Tomato variety, or it is Capsicum?
I have seen such grooved Tomato. 

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