Solanum melongena and Wild Allies: Potential Birth Control Resource Kumar B., Chaudhary B.R. Center of Advanced Study in Botany, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi–221 005, India. Abstract Solanum melongena L. (the egg plant) is a widely-grown, cheap and popular vegetable crop of India. Generally referred to as poor man's crop, the fruits of brinjal are fortunately of high nutritive value as they are rich in vitamins, carbohydrates, proteins, minerals and fibers. Besides, the juice of various plant parts and the pulp of fruits of brinjal and wild allies are well known for their therapeutic uses in various kinds of ailments such as diabetes, otitis and toothache, cholera, bronchitis, dysuria, asthama, inflammatory disorders, blood pressure, etc. Wild Solanumallies assuming special significance wing to useful characteristics such as glycoalkaloids (Solasodine) used as oral contraceptive for birth control and the disease resistance are hoped to be exploited and used in the advancement of crop genotypes through conventional breeding and biotechnological approaches. Top Keywords Solanum melongena and wild allies, glycoalkaloids, birth control. Top |