Manathakkali is the Tamil kitchen name for a soft black nightshade — leaves as a keerai, ripe berries as a tiny fruit. The group is filed here under Solanum nigrum, though South Indian plants often sit closer to S. americanum or S. villosum. It is not sundaikkai, not thoothuvalai, and not a garden tomato. Unripe green berries are the safety line.
- Botanical name
- Solanum nigrum L.
- Family
- Solanaceae
- Tamil
- Manathakkali
- Hindi
- Makoy
- Sanskrit
- Kākamācī
- Parts used
- Leaves, Ripe berries
- Habit
- Soft nightshade of waste ground; Tamil kitchens use the leaf and ripe berry
- Last updated
- 2026-10-30
How to recognise Manathakkali
Linnaeus published Solanum nigrum. The family is Solanaceae. The plant people mean is a soft, almost unarmed herb: ovate leaves, small white flowers in extra-axillary clusters, and berries that ripen from green to dull black or sometimes orange-yellow in related taxa.
The manathakkali complex is messy. S. nigrum s.str., S. americanum, S. villosum and neighbours have been used as food in different districts. A backyard plant in Madurai may be any of them; the ripe berry tells you more than the Latin on a shop label.
Tamil manathakkali / manathakkali keerai, Hindi makoy and Sanskrit kākamācī are the list names. English black nightshade is this group. Deadly nightshade is Atropa belladonna, a different genus, not a Tamil keerai.
A Tamil backyard plant may or may not be S. nigrum in the strict sense. Honesty is a ripe berry you chose, not a borrowed European monograph.
Ripe berries that have turned fully dark (or the local ripe colour) are the fruit article. Do not treat green berries as food.
S. torvum is a prickly shrub with clustered hard green berries (sundaikkai). S. trilobatum is a climber. S. virginianum sprawls with yellow berries. Four Solanum, four jobs.
Leaves are soft and a little foetid when crushed. A glossy garden nightshade with spines is not this keerai.
Dried “makoy” berries in a Unani shop should still look like small nightshade fruits. Dust is a bin.
The flower is white with a yellow cone of anthers, like a tiny brinjal blossom. That family mark is not a species.
Buy the keerai washed, from a grower who knows the plant. A mixed wild nightshade from a drain is a different risk.
Traditional use of Manathakkali
South Indian food
Leaf poriyal and ripe-berry uses are cuisine in Tamil kitchens that know this plant.
Tamil kitchen practice
Ayurveda and Unani
Ayurveda lists it as kākamācī and Unani as makoy. Historical headings are not a modern liver claim, and they do not settle which species is in the tin.
Traditional headings
Modern notes on Manathakkali
Unripe berries carry the most glycoalkaloid (the solanine family), which is why only fully ripe ones are eaten. A cooked leaf from a known plant is food; a wild green berry is not a snack experiment.
The practical modern issue is the species complex in one sack, and Atropa stories used to frighten people off a Tamil keerai — or the reverse, a keerai story used to excuse an unknown wild nightshade.
Manathakkali safety
Leaf as food from a known plant, and fully ripe berries only, are the ordinary kitchen exposures. Green berries and unknown wild Solanum do not belong in a poriyal.
Nightshade-sensitive people already know the family. Children should not graze green berries off a waste lot.
Ecology and sourcing
It is a weed of people and a backyard crop. Grow a known line if you cook it; do not graze every black-berried nightshade you meet.
Related plants
Also in Solanaceae
Questions about Manathakkali
Is Manathakkali deadly nightshade?
No. Deadly nightshade is Atropa belladonna. Manathakkali is a Solanum in the black-nightshade group. Different genus.
What is the Tamil name of Solanum nigrum?
Manathakkali.
Can I eat the green berries?
No. The kitchen fruit, where it is used, is the fully ripe berry. Green fruit is the safety line.
Sources
- Solanum nigrum L. — Plants of the World Online, Kew (search) (accessed 2026)
- Wikidata item Q146400 (Solanum nigrum)
Educational page about a plant. It is not medical advice, not a diagnosis, and not an offer to sell. Traditional use is historical. If you need care, ask a licensed clinician. Questions: hello@meevamed.com.