Bilva

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.
Formulations
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