Objectives The antioxidant and hepatoprotective activity of Solanum violaceum was evaluated with carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) intoxicated animal models followed by phytochemical screening of bioactive extracts by GC-MS. Methods The total phenolic and flavonoid content were estimated from the solvent extracted samples. In vitro antioxidant and in vivo hepatoprotective studies were carried out with the ethyl acetate extract of Solanum violaceum (SVEE). The hepatoprotective evaluations were carried out with CCl4 intoxicated rats. The levels of Serum Glutamate Oxaloacetate Transaminase (SGOT), Serum Glutamate Pyruvate Transaminase (SGPT), Serum Alkaline Phosphatase (ALP), bilirubin and proteins were measured in the serum and histopathological studies were carried out with the liver sections. The phytochemical profile of the bioactive extract was revealed from GC-MS analysis. Results The ethyl acetate and chloroform extracts of Solanum violaceum were rich in phenolic and flavonoid contents respectively. The DPPH and NO scavenging assays revealed better activity for ethyl acetate extract while ABTS assay was better for the alcoholic extract. Therefore further investigations on the hepatoprotective activity were carried out with ethyl acetate extract. The hepatoprotective screening revealed the restoration of enzymes as well as protein to normal levels upon treating intoxicated rats with the bioactive extracts in a dose dependant manner. Further histopathological studies also revealed that the ethyl acetate extract was effective towards restoration of liver cells to normal levels. The phytochemical profile as evaluated from the GC-MS analysis of the extract narrowed down the observed response to four major compounds. Conclusions Solanum violaceum possesses significant antioxidant and hepatoprotective activities. The bioactive constituents attributing to the observed activity were revealed by GC-MS analysis. Viridiflorol, palmitic acid, n-pentacosanal and citroflex A were found to be the major ones.