Ppolo or Glossy nightshadeSolanaceae (Nightshade family)Indigenous? to the Hawaiian islandsOahu (Cultivated)Polynesian Names:Boro (Fiji); Magalo (Samoa); poro (Australs, Socities); poo? (Marquesas); Polo (Futuna, Uvea); Polo kai (Niue); Polopolo (Cooks); Ppolo (Hawaii).Ppolo was one of the most important herbs for early Hawaiians.The fruits, called pili or olohua, were enjoyed raw or blanched by early Hawaiians much as they are today. Tender shoots and leaves were wrapped in ti leaves, steamed in an imu and eaten in times of food scarcity by early Hawaiians. Sometimes the leaves were cooked with pork, fish or wild birds.Medicinally, the flowers and ripe fruit were chewed by the mother and fed to their baby internally, while the leaves were chewed to soften and put in a soft piece of cloth. The juice was squeezed into the hand and applied to the baby's body from head to feet to strengthen the child. Juice from the leaves were applied to sore tendons, muscles, and joints. The juice from leaves and ripe berries used alone or in combination with each were used for all disorders of the respiratory tract, for skin eruptions, and when mixed with salt, a healing agent for cuts and wounds.A blackish purple dye was made from the fruits.The fruits and leaves are still used in modern times and usually enjoyed fresh. The taste is mildly sweet with a hint of tomato. Ppolo leaves can be applied as a topical for bites and stings.EtymologyThe Latin generic name Solanum is derived from solor or solatus, comforter, for some plants in this genus that were used medically, specifically S. nigrum, once used to treat epilepsy.The Latin specific epithet americanum, from the Americas or American, refers to the fact that this species orginated in the Americas, the New World, but now is widely distributed in the tropics and warm areas.
nativeplants.hawaii.edu/plant/view/Solanum_americanum
