The name, West Indian Turkey Berry (WITB) may appear as complicated as any South Indian name like Thiruvidai maruthur Sreenivasaraghavan Venkatakrishnan. But this herb is a commonly available simple remedy in South Indian households. The dried berries and roots are highly medicinal. The berries are often stored in the kitchen for the preparation of vattal kuzhambu, a delicacy, although medicinal. Its bitter taste, of course, needs some cultivation.
The berries contain a high percentage of iron (22.2 mg per 100 gms) which make them readily recommendable for patients of anaemia. Particularly, ladies who lose much iron during menstruation need a special supplement of WITB! Besides iron, it is also rich in calcium (390 mg) and Carotene (450 microgram).
The berries are prescribed even in severe cases of pitta aggravation. They are also effective home remedies in the case of phlegm, cold, vata aggravation, infection of tape worms and other intestinal worms, tastelessness, loss of appetite, piles, asthma, TB, chest-congestion, night blindness.
Fresh berries are green in colour. They are often sun dried. Sometimes the dried berries are again mixed with little butter-milk and salt and re-dried. This forms the raw material in South Indian cuisine as well as in medicines.
WITB: A Profile
Latin Name: Solanum Torvum
Indian Names: Sundaikkaai, Malai Sundai
Family: Solanaceae
Appearance: Shrub with thorns, 3 to 4 m tall, leaves are oval in shape, flowers are white
Distribution: Hot, arid zones
WITB: How to use it
| Ailment | Prescription |
| Night blindness | Fry 1 to 2 tsp dried berries in little ghee and eat with ragi porridge. |
| Chest congestion, cough | Fry 1 to 2 tsp dried berries and powder. Add this to every meal, at least three times daily. |
| Piles, chest congestion, asthma, TB, Diabetes | Take equal quantities of dried berries, dried amla fruits (without seeds), fenugreek (methi), ajwain (omum), dried ginger (sonth), cumin (zeera), dried curry leaves, mango kernel and rind of pomegranate. Fry in ghee till golden brown. Powder. Take 1/ 4 tsp powder every morning and evening with milk. |
| Loss of appetite, intestinal worms, tapeworm, piles | Fry equal quantity of dried berries, dried curry leaves, pepper, cumin and fenugreek in castor oil. Powder with little salt. Twice a day, take 1 or 2 tsp of this powder mixed with cooked rice, preferably on an empty stomach. |
| Toxin | Powder the root of WITB. Mix 1/ 4 tsp of this powder in a tsp of tamarind water and take twice daily. |
| Malaria | Mix equal quantities of roots of WITB, sandalwood and Achyranthes aspera and grind into a fine paste. Make small pills of this paste and dry in the sun. Take 1 or 2 of these pills with warm water, three times daily. |
| Stomach ache | Grind a piece of root of WITB to a fine paste, roll it into small pills. Dry them in the sun. Take 1 or 2 pills with warm water. |
| Headache | Powder the root-back of WITB and use it as snuff. |