Pōpolo (Solanum americanum)


Pōpolo is considered as the Hawaiian nightshade. There are three endemic species of pōpolo, but the indigenous species (Solanum americanum) is the only one that has edible fruits. Being from the nightshade family, the unripe green pōpolo berries are poisonous to eat. It accumulates a high concentration of glycoalkaloids, which are toxic to animals and humans.  The ripe purple-ish black berries are perfectly okay to eat. They actually taste like tomatoes! 

Pōpolo is one of the most important and versatile Native Hawaiian medicinal plants. They were mostly used for respiratory and digestive problems, sore muscles, cuts, and other wounds. The purple berries were also used to make a dye!

This is me carrying a tray full of pōpolo seedlings! This was taken just before we put these cuties into the ground. Part of my research project is to grow Native Hawaiian medicinal plants in order to gather enough material to run tests on these plants to help verify ancestral knowledge. 

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