The green leaves which are poisonous apparently contain vitamin C, and the fruit has the minerals calcium phosphorous and iron, as well as some of the B-complex vitamins, bioflavonoids and amino acids.
However, it is the glycoalkaloid solamargine and a furoshanol glycoside, indioside D as well as solasonine which have all been shown to have inhibitory effects on human cancer cell lines, especially as regards lung, breast and liver cancer cells. It contains two glycoalkaloids which can kill molluscs, and the snails which serve as an intermediate host for schistosome, which are responsible for schistosomiosis (bilharzia) which affects more than 200 million people throughout the Far East, Africa, South America, and the Caribbean. According to a WHO 2004 report, as many as 200,000 die annually from the disease, so a compound which can kill the hosts, can help reduce the spread of the disease.