Ribena pure fruit syrups for the manufacture of milkshakes had been done at the Long Ashton Agriculture and Horticulture Research Station in North Somerset using a pectinase enzyme process; Ribena was essentially invented there by Vernon Charley, a scientist at the University of Bristol in 1933. The blackcurrant variety was found to contain high levels of vitamin C. The drink was launched in 1938 under the name Ribena (from the botanical name for the blackcurrant, "Ribes nigrum"). During the Second World War, other fruits rich in vitamin C, like oranges, became almost impossible to obtain in the United Kingdom, due to
Solanum nigrum forms are used and are known as "ranti" (Javanese) or "leunca" (Sundanese). The fruit and leaves are eaten raw as part of a traditional salad "lalapan", or the fruit is cooked (fried) with "oncom". It was imported into Australia from Mauritius in the 1850s as a vegetable during the gold rush, but "S. nigrum" is now prohibited for trade as a food by the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code. During ancient times in Hawaii young shoots, leaves, small white flowers, and small black berries were eaten. The leaves, among other greens, were cooked by rolling hot stones among them