Solanaceae family commonly known as nightshades belongs to the order
Solanales, in the group of Asterids and class of Magnoliopsida (dicotyledons). The
family is angiospermic i.e., flowering plants, and has highly diversified plants ranging
from annual to perennial herbs, vines, shrubs, epiphytes, and trees.
Solanaceae consists of about 98 genera and 2,700 species worldwide
that includes several agricultural, horticultural, medicinal plants, spices,
and weeds with highly diverse habitats and ecology. The family is cosmopolitan in
distribution having found all over the world, including tropical temperate and desert
regions except Antarctica, and is greatly abundant in South and Central America.
Based on the fossil tomatillos discovered in the Patagonian region, Argentina, scientists reported that the development of Solanaceae started during the Mesozoic Era. The family, Solanaceae is believed to have
originated from the Andean/Amazonian region of South America . The
occurrence is thought to have evolved in a wide range of environments, from rain
forests with over three meters of annual rainfall to desert with almost no rainfall and mountain with snow and sub-freezing temperatures .
Wettstein believed that the Solanaceae had a polyphyletic origin because of
their close kinship with several other plant groups . The family was
closely related to Scrophulariaceae and was divided into the tribes: Nicandreae,
Solanaceae, Datureae, Cestreae, and Salpiglossideae by Wettstein . Bentham
and Hooker included the family within Polemoniales, however, Hallier considered it
as Tubiflorae, which had been derived from Linaceae.
Solanaceae is also one of the most economically important families among the
angiosperms and contains crops such as Solanum tuberosum (potato), Solanum
lycopersicon (tomato), Solanum melongena (eggplant), Solanum betaceum
(tomarillo/tree tomato) Physalis peruviana (Cape gooseberry), Capsicum spp.
(pepper) etc. that are important food sources in human civilizations. The family also
produces important alkaloids and adds significantly to their medicinal values. Plants
such as Nicotiana spp., Atropa belladonna, Hyoscyamus, Mandragora, and Datura
spp., etc. are important for the production of drugs in pharmaceutical industries while
some have ornamental values (such as Petunia, Brugmansia, Cestrum, Solanum
pseudocapsicum etc.) in horticultural fields.
