Dried Solanum Torvum / Turkey Berry / Sundaikkai / Sundaka Vathal / Sundakkai vadagam

Tamil – சுண்டைக்காய் sundaikaai

Malayalam– ചുണ്ടംഗ Chundanga

Common Name – Turkey berry

Turkey berry or Solanum torvum fruits are used for medicinal purposes in fresh and dried form. The leaves of this plant look like eggplant leaves and the flowers are white-colored. Fresh fruits in green and ripe fruits are yellow. The important nutrients in turkey berries are vitamin A, Iron, Calcium, and Fibre. Also called prickly nightshade, from eggplant family.

It is called Sundakkai in Tamil, in South India. As it has a bitter taste, it is cooked with yogurt, tamarind, salt, or jaggery to reduce the bitterness. These sun-dried berries have a very long shelf life.

Health Benefits:

• It is good for bones and teeth. Turkey berries have antibacterial, anti-fungal, and antioxidant properties. They have the ability to stop excessive cell growth and research states that turkey berry extracts can fight against lung cancer. Fresh or dried fruit, leaves, and the root of this plant are used for medicinal purposes.
• The fruit has sedative, diuretic and digestive properties. The leaves have antimicrobial properties, and so the paste is applied to cuts and wounds.
• Turkey berry has been commonly used to treat diabetes.
• Solanum torvum is one of the essential medicine in treating abscesses, jigger wounds, and skin infections. Solanum torvum extracts have the ability to restrain the growth of H. pylori.
• Turkey berry is used for Ayurveda and Siddha medicines. In Ayurveda, it helps to cure liver and kidney disorders, nerve conditions, and night blindness. Most of people use these turkey berries to heal stomach ailments, relieve stomach ulcers, and get rid of intestinal worms.
• Solanum torvum is used in Cameroon ethnomedicine for the treatment of hypertension. The ethanolic extract of Solanum torvum prevents the development of high blood pressure which is induced by a diet rich in fructose, by reversing the metabolic alterations induced by fructose.