A review of the ethnopharmacology, phytochemistry and pharmacological relevance of the South African weed Solanum sisymbriifolium Lam. (Solanaceae)

Solanum sisymbriifolium Lam. also known as “wild tomato” is a traditional medicine used by indigenous people of Central and South America, to treat both veterinary and human diseases. Various parts of the wild tomato have been widely used in prevention and treatment of numerous diseases including hypertension, diarrhoea, and respiratory and urinary tracts infections. The traditional uses of this plant has attracted researchers to investigate its efficacy using different in vivo and in vitro biological assays, identify and isolate phytochemicals from different parts of this plant. Biological activities of different parts of the plant reported include anti-microbial, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, analgesic, anti-diabetic, cytotoxicity, hepatoprotective, anti-cancer, larvicidal and piscicidal activity. Compound classes including steroidal saponin, spirostane saponins, glycoalkaloids, steroidal alkaloids, pyrrolidine alkaloids, sterols, steroid glycosides and lignans were isolated from different parts of S. sisymbriifolium and reported to exhibit biological activities. This review intends to document the ethnopharmacological uses, phytochemistry, pharmacological activities and toxicity aspects of the South African weed, S. sisymbriifolium. To achieve this, textbooks and electronic databases were used to source the necessary peer-reviewed data. Research reports documented in this review have shown that S. sisymbriifolium has potential to be a contender for the treatment and management of numerous diseases, and a source of new pharmaceutical drugs. However, further research still needs to be conducted in order to fully understand the mechanisms of action of reported bioactive molecules.