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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. |
