Solanum uporo, cannibal tomato or poro poro seeds

Solanum uporo seeds

Solanum uporo belongs to t he family of the Solanaceae, the nightshades. It is also known as cannibal tomato or poro poro. This ghoulish nickname is due to the fact that one says that human meat gets better digested when one eats a sauce made of S. uporo with the meat. It is native to the Fiji islands where cannibals lived in the past.
S. uporo is an herbaceous, perennial plant that reaches a height form 1 to 1, 5 m. The leaves can be eaten in the salad. It has a cholesterol lowering effect. They are ovate acute.
The flowers are white, the corolla has 5 petals and the stamens are brightly yellow. The flowers stand in inflorescences of up to 5 flowers. They resemble the flowers of the potato and other Solanaceae.
The fruits look just like the common tomato and are cooked just like that. Eaten raw they have a very bitter taste. The fruits get 2 cm in diameter. The seeds lie in the pulp.
The roots of S. uporo are poisonous. They include steroid alkaloids.

Cultivation
The seeds of S. uporo do not need any pretreatment. They can be planted 0, 5 to 1 cm deep into the soil. If they are kept sunny and warm (20°C to 25°C) germination occurs 3 to 6 weeks later. It can also be kept outside after the last frost.