Botanical Name
Aegle marmelos (L.) Correa
Family
Rutaceae.
Synonyms
Aegle marmelos var. mahurensis Zate, Belou marmelos (L.) Lyons, Bilacus marmelos (L.) Kuntze, Crateva marmelos L., Feronia pellucida Roth.
Regional Name
English : Bengal Quince, Bael fruit, Hindi : Bela, Sriphal, Bel, Sanskrit : Sriphala, Urdu : Bel, Punjabi : Bil, Gujrati : Bill, Bilum, Bilvaphal, Assamese : Bael, Vael, Bengali : Bela, Bilva, Kannada : Bilva, Kashmiri : Bel, Malayalam : Koovalam, Marathi : Bel, Baela, Oriya : Bela, Tamil : Vilvam, Telugu : Maredu.
Part Used
Fruit, Leaves, Bark.
Description
Bilva is distributed across Indo-Malesian region and cultivated in Africa. In India, it is reported to occur in the Sub-Himalayan tracts from Jhelum eastward and also southward to the Central and Southern India. It is present in the states of Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Tripura, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Bilva is a tree, attaining a height of 12 m growing wild and also cultivated throughout the country. Fruit, sub-globose, 5-18 cm in diameter, externally greenish when young, yellowish-brown when ripe, rind about 1.5 mm-3 mm thick, hard and woody, surface smooth or slightly granular bearing a circular scar at the point of attachment with peduncle, carpels, 10-15, central, each containing several hairy seeds embedded in yellowish brown, extremely sticky mucilage, seeds oblong, flat, woody, and having white hair, fresh pulp of ripe fruit, brown, of sticky shreads, dried pulp hard and pale to dark red in colour, frequently breaks away from the rind during drying, leaving a thin layer attached to it, odour, faintly aromatic, taste, mucilaginous and slightly astringent.
Phytoconstituents
Marmalosin, tannins, mucilage, fatty oil and sugar.
Ayurvedic Properties
Rasa : Katu, Tikta, Kasaya, Guna : Laghu, Ruksa, Vipaka : Katu, Virya : Usna, Karma : Balya, Dipana, Grahi, Pacana, Pittakrt, Vatakaphahara.
Ayurvedic Applications
Pravahika, Agnimandya, Grahaniroga.
Medicinal Uses
The fruit, leaves and root of Bilva is used for treatment of diarrhoea, sprue, piles, oedema, jaundice, vomiting, obesity, deafness, eye diseases, paediatric diseases, fever and as a rejuvinative.