AEGLE MARMELOS LINN.

Common name: Bel, Beli fruit, Bengal quince, Stone apple, Wood apple • Hindi: बेल Bel • Manipuri: হৈৰীখগোক Heirikhagok • Marathi: Maredu • Tamil: Vilvam • Malayalam: Vilvam • Telugu: Sandiliyamu •Kannada: Bilvapatre • Bengali: বেল Bel • Konkani: Bello • Urdu: Bel • Assamese: বেল Bel • Gujarati: Bili •Sanskrit: Adhararuha, Sivadrumah, Tripatra 

Botanical name: Aegle marmelos Linn. Correa

Family: Rutaceae (Citrus family)

Synonyms: Crateva marmelos, Aegle marmelos var. mahurensis

Geographical distribution

It occurs in the submontane regions and plains

throughout India, and also cultivated in gardens.

Introduction : Bel is a fruit-bearing tree which is cultivated throughout India, as well as in Sri Lanka, northern Malaya, Java and in the Philippines. The tree, which is the only species in the genus Aegle, grows up to 15 meters tall and bears thorns and fragrant flowers. Leaves are alternate, pale green, trifoliate; terminal leaflet, 5.7 cm long, 2.8 cm broad, having a long petiole; the two lateral leaflets, almost sessile, 4.1 cm long, 2.2 cm wide, ovate to lanceolate having reticulate pinnate venation; petiole, 3.2 cm long. Flowers, greenish white, sweetly scented, bisexual, stalked; stalk, 8 mm long; diameter of a fully open flower is 3 cm; flowers, borne in lateral panicles of about 10 flowers, arising from the leaf axils. It has a woody-skinned, smooth fruit 5-15 cm in diameter. The skin of some forms of the fruit is so hard it must be cracked open with a hammer. It has numerous seeds, which are densely covered with fibrous hairs and are embedded in a thick, gluey, aromatic pulp. The fruit is eaten fresh or dried. The juice is strained and sweetened to make a drink similar to lemonade, and is also used in making Sharbat. is a sacred tree, dedicated to Lord Shiva. The offering of bael leaves is a compulsory ritual of the worship of Lord Shiva in the hills. This importance seems largely due to its medicinal properties. All parts of this tree, viz., root, leaf, trunk, fruit and seed, are used for curing one human ailment or another.

Chemical composition

Leaves are having essential oil consisting of b-phellandrene. Matured bark contains r-fragrine, umbeliferone marmesin, sterols and triterpenoids. Bark also contains coumarin, and umberlliferone. The fruit contains marmalosin.

Therapeutic uses

The unripe or half ripe fruit is astringent, stomachic, antiscorbutic and digestive. It is given in chronic cases of dysentery and diarrhoea. The ripe fruit is aromatic, astringent, and cooling and laxative.

Folk medicinal uses

12 ml. leaf juice of Bel is added with black pepper (7-8) and is given twice a day for 1-2 month. This cures diabetes as started by local folks. The unripe fruit after boiling in the water is given in dysentery. The ripe fruit pulp is usually taken in intestinal disorders. The bark decoction is taken thrice a day for one week in intermittent fever.

Preparations

Bilwa-panchak-kwath, bilwadi-chruna, bilwadi-grita, bilwa-taila and bilwa muladi-gutika. dasmularista, dhanyapanchak-kwath, vatsayakadi-kwath, laghu gangadhar churna.

Flowers: March-May Fruits: April-August