Solanum centrale
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Solanum centrale |
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Solanum centrale is in Australia -based plants art from the genus Solanum ( Solanum ). Within the genus, the species is classified in the subgenus Leptostemonum . Thanks to a specially developed root system , the plant is able to sprout again quicklyafter bushfires and alsoto enter intoa symbiosis with mycorrhizal fungi in order to obtain sufficient nutrients even in poor locations. The fruit of the plant is usedas foodby Australian Aborigines .
description
Vegetative characteristics
Solanum centrale is a 0.2 to 0.4 m high herbaceous plant . The stems are yellow, rust-colored or brown in color and very densely haired with star-shaped, non-glandular trichomes , as well as with straight, needle-shaped and 4 to 7 mm long spines . There can be up to two spines per 10 cm.
The sympodial units have two leaves that are not in pairs. The leaf blades are simple, 2.8 to 8.5 cm long and 1.1 to 4.2 mm wide and 2 to 2.5 times as long as they are wide. They are egg-shaped and paper-like. The base is wedge-shaped to heart-shaped, the leaf margin is entire, the tip is pointed or blunt. The top is densely to very densely covered with gray-green to green, non-glandular, star-shaped trichomes, the underside is very densely covered with white, yellowish or rust-colored, non-glandular, star-shaped trichomes. The leaf stalks are 0.8 to 2.6 cm long and thus reach 17 to 40% of the length of the leaf blades. They too are very densely haired with star-shaped trichomes. There are no spines on the foliage leaves.
The plants form large clone colonies that spread through fire-resistant, subterranean plant parts, from which groups of two or more new sprouts usually sprout. The plants are able to sprout again quickly after the first rains that follow a bushfire. The original plant, germinated from a seed, forms a thick taproot from which several side roots extend. Occasionally, where the side roots develop new shoots, further downward roots are formed, but they do not develop into a taproot. Secondary roots are only sparsely developed along the lateral roots, they are very fine and brittle.
Inflorescences and flowers
The inflorescences are outside the leaf axils, are 0.5 to 6 cm long and consist of one to six flowers . They are unbranched and pseudo -grape-shaped , their hair consists of very dense, star-shaped trichomes, and there are no spines. The inflorescence stalk is 0 to 2.3 cm long; the inflorescence axis 0.5 to 1.5 (rarely up to 4) cm; the flower stalks reach lengths of 5 to 7 mm at the flowering time, on the fruit they lengthen to about 15 mm.
The flowers are five-fold and appear hermaphroditic. The calyx reaches a length of 3 to 6 mm, whereby the corolla tube is 2 to 4 mm long. The corolla lobes are 1 to 4 mm long and are beaked and very densely covered with brown or rust-colored, non-glandular, star-shaped trichomes. The calyx enlarges only slightly on the fruit, the lobes are then about half as long as the ripe fruit. The crown is 10 to 13 mm long, purple in color, star-shaped or weakly lobed with narrow triangular lobes, paper-like and sparsely to densely covered with star-shaped trichomes on the inside. The anthers are colored yellow, 4.3 to 6.2 mm long, lanceolate and not bent together. They open through fine, outward-facing pores. The ovary is hairless or only covered with star-shaped trichomes at the tip. The cylindrical stylus is straight or slightly curved, hairless or only covered with star-shaped trichomes at the base. The scar is cut off or headed.
Fruits and seeds
One to four hairless berries are formed per inflorescence , which take around two to three months to ripen and ripen between November and the beginning of winter. They are spherical, 1 to 1.5 cm in size, initially clay-green, later yellowish and finally brown when they dry up, so that they resemble raisins . In investigations, between 17 and 94 seeds were counted in the fruits of Solanum centrale , the mean being 54 seeds. They are usually 3 (rarely 2 to 4) mm long, pale or light brown and slightly wavy on the surface.
Occurrence and locations
The species is common and widespread in the southern part of the Northern Territory in Australia and in the adjacent areas of South Australias and Western Australias , in Queensland it occurs only to a very limited extent .
It grows in dry, sandy desert areas, with usually less than 250 mm of rainfall per year. In winter, temperatures can drop below freezing, while in summer they can also exceed 45 ° C. The plants prefer light to medium soils and are mostly found in sandy Spinifex grasslands , on dunes and in adjacent mulga areas.
ecology
Plants of the species Solanum centrale benefit from a symbiosis with mycorrhizal fungi that occur in the soil , but can survive without them. The fungi promote the absorption of phosphate from the soil, but also cause a change in the plant morphology. In addition to increased nutrient uptake, the causes of these changes can also be the effects of fungi on plant hormones.
Systematics
Solanum centrale is classified within the genus of nightshade ( Solanum ) in the subgenus Leptostemonum . Based on morphological characteristics, the species can be classified in the group around Solanum macoorai , a molecular biological investigation of the family relationships of the species has not yet been carried out (as of March 2007).
use
Solanum centrale was one of the staple foods of the Aborigines in Central Australia . In Warlpiri the fruits are called yakatjiri , and the term kamparrarpa from the language of the Pintupi is occasionally used. In English the fruit is called bush tomato or bush raisin .
The fruits that dried on the plants were eaten raw, dried on sticks or ground and pressed into balls or slices. These discs are reportedly up to 10 inches in diameter and weigh up to 1.59 kg. In contrast to other Australian nightshade species, such as Solanum chippendalei, which were eaten by the Aborigines, Solanum centrale does not need to remove bitter or poisonous seeds or juices.
Investigations into the ingredients of the dried fruits gave the following results (100 g each):
| Calorific value in kJ ( kcal ) | Protein in g | Fat in g | Carbohydrates in g | Water in g | Ash in g | Dietary fiber in g | source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1252 (299) | 8.44 | 5.53 | 53.92 | 28.82 | 3.29 | not specified | |
| 1172 (280) | 8.5 | 3.8 | 67.3 | 12.5 | 5.0 | 23.4 |
The modern use of Solanum centrale consists mainly in its use as a spice, the fruit is usually offered as a fine or coarse powder, but also as a whole fruit. The fruit is also a component of various spice mixtures and is used as an ingredient in commercially available sauces, chutneys, breads and pastries.
A large part of the demand is covered by the harvest of wild plants, but this can no longer fully cover the increasing demand. Of the 8 to 10 tons of fruit traded annually, about 2 tons are obtained from cultivated plants. Due to the difficult germination of seeds and high demands on the locations, the culture is considered difficult. Cultivars are not yet known, but several suppliers are busy selecting plants that are easier to cultivate. The growing areas are in different regions of Central Australia and in the north-central part of South Australia , to a lesser extent in western South Australia and in New South Wales on western slopes.
supporting documents
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c Angela Dennett: Underground structures and mycorrhizal associations of Solanum centrale (the Australian bush tomato) - Part 2 - Research Paper . Dissertation, Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources, University of Sydney, 2006.
- ↑ a b c Nicolas Peterson: Aboriginal uses of Australian Solanaceae . In: Hawkes, JG, Lester, RN and Skelding, AD (Eds.): The biology and taxonomy of the Solanaceae , Academic Press, London, 1979. pp. 171-189.
- ↑ a b c d e f Angela Dennett: Underground structures and mycorrhizal associations of Solanum centrale (the Australian bush tomato) - Part 1 - Literature review . Dissertation, Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources, University of Sydney, 2006.
- ↑ a b Juleigh Robins and Maarten Ryder: Bush tomato . In: The New Crop Industries Handbook — Native Foods , Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation, Canberra, Australia, 2008. ISBN 1-74151-610-2 .
Main sources
- Lynn Bohs: Solanum centrale . In: Solanaceae Source , online, accessed June 16, 2009
