তিতা-ভেকুৰি

Brhati is a medicinal plant. Brhati occurs throughout India, often in waste places, on roadsides and in open scrublands. It is a prickly, much branched shrub, usually spreading or diffused, It grows upto 1-5 metres in height. The young branches are densely covered with minute star – shaped hairs . The prickles are yellow, shining, about 1-5 cm long. The leaves upto 10 cm long, their midribs and other nerves with sharp yellow prickles. The flowers are purple, about 2 cm long, in racemose extra – axillary cymes. The fruits round, 1.5 – 2 cm, dark yellow when ripe. The seeds are smooth, minutely pitted. The botanical name of brhati is Solanum indicum and it belongs to family Solanceae. In the Ayurvedic formulary of India. Solanum indicum (brhati) and Sulanum xanthocarpum (kantakari), together, are termed as brhari dvayam. The fruit and root of brhati contain wax, fatty acids and alkaloids solanin and solanidine. Traditionally, among some of the tribal people in the North East India, the raw berry fruits of brhati are crushed and applied on boils, scorpion stings and bee stings. They are also eaten for the cure of diabetes.