Solanum quitoense Seeds | Naranjilla
LATIN NAME: Solanum quitoense
COMMON NAME: Naranjilla
Plant Profile
Naranjilla is a soft, sprawling shrub of the Andean valleys, grown for orange fruit that tastes of pineapple and lime. It reaches one to two and a half metres, with enormous, velvety leaves up to sixty centimetres long, purple-veined above and pale beneath, and stems armed with straight, reddish spines. Small white flowers open through the year, and the fruit follows within months: a round, orange berry with a thin skin, green, juicy, aromatic pulp and many small seeds. The plant is short-lived, usually three or four years, and it dies back after heavy cropping. It grows in the cool, cloudy valleys of Colombia and Ecuador at twelve hundred to two thousand metres, where the air is damp and the sun is never fierce. The juice is sold in every market in the region.
Science & Biotechnology
Solanum quitoense sits in the section Lasiocarpa of the genus, a group of about ten species with velvety leaves and orange fruits, and it is one of the few members of that group to be domesticated. The plant is andromonoecious, carrying both male and hermaphrodite flowers, and it is largely self-pollinated, though bumblebees increase fruit set. Its cultivation is limited by root-knot nematodes and by a bacterial wilt, both of which shorten the life of a plantation, and by the fact that the fruit bruises easily and cannot be shipped far. Breeding work in Ecuador has produced spineless forms and hybrids with related species for nematode resistance. The dense hairs on the leaves, which give the plant its velvety look, also deter some insects, but not the ones that matter.
Uses & Benefits
The fruit is the crop: the pulp is tart and aromatic, used for juice, for sorbet, for a fresh drink with sugar and water, and for a sauce with chilli and coriander. In Colombia it goes into the fruit salad called salpicón. The fruit is not usually eaten out of hand because of its acidity and its hairs. In a garden it is a striking foliage plant, with leaves like a giant velvet coleus, and it fruits in a large pot in a cool conservatory. It is a good subject for a shaded patio in a mild climate, where the plant will crop for two or three seasons before declining. It has no medicinal use and the unripe fruit is mildly toxic.
Growing from Seed
Sow fresh seed in a light, sterile mix, surface-sow and cover barely, because light helps germination. Keep at twenty to twenty-five degrees with high humidity and out of direct sun; germination takes two to four weeks. The seedlings grow fast and need a deep pot, rich compost and steady water. Grow on in bright, filtered light, never in scorching sun, which scorches the leaves. Plant out in a sheltered spot with rich, moist, well-drained soil, or keep in a large container and move it indoors before frost. Mulch heavily and feed with compost monthly. Stake the stems, since the fruit is heavy. Replace the plant every three years from seed.
Our Take
A velvet-leaved Andean shrub with fruit that tastes of pineapple and lime. It wants cool, cloudy weather and gives three seasons of cropping.
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