Botanical Name

Terminalia chebula Retz

Family

Combretaceae.

Synonyms

Buceras chebula (Retz.) Lyons, Myrobalanus chebula (Retz.) Gaertn., Myrobalanus gangetica (Roxb.) Kostel., Terminalia acuta Walp., Terminalia chebula var. chebula, Terminalia gangetica Roxb., Terminalia reticulata Roth.

Regional Name

English :Myrobalan, Hindi : Choti Harad, Bal Harar, Sanskrit :Abhaya, Urdu :Halela, Siva, Pathya, Vijaya, Assamese :Shilikha, Bengali :Haritaki, Gujrati :Hirdo, Himaja, Pulo-harda, Kannada : Alalekai, Kashmiri :Halela, Malayalam :Katukka, Marathi :Hirda, Haritaki, Harda, Hireda, Oriya :Harida, Punjabi :Halela, Harar, Tamil :Kadukkai, Telugu : Karaka, Karakkaya.

Part Used

Immature Fruit.

Description

It is found throughout South East Asia - India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, Thailand, southwest China (Yunnan) and Taiwan (Nantou). In India it is found in the Sub Himalayan tracks from Ravi eastwards to West Bengal and Assam, ascending up to the altitude of 1 500 m in the Himalayas. Immature fruits blakish-brown,  wrinkled and ribbed longitudinally, seedless, astringent in taste.

Phytoconstituents

Its fruits contains -Tannins (32-34%) gallic acid, chebulagic acid, punicalagin, chebulanin, corilagin, neochebulinic acid, ellagic acid, chebulinic acid, 1,2,3,4,6-penta-O-galloyl-β-D-glucose, 1,6-di-o-galloyl-D-glucose, casuarinin, 3,4,6-tri-o-glloyl-D-glucose, terchebulin. Other constituents include amino acids, betasitosterol, resin, flavanol, glycosides, terpenoids and other phenolic compounds such as chebulinic acid, ellagic acid & anthraquinones and minor constituents is polyphenols such as corilagin, galloyl glucose, punicalagin, terflavin A, maslinic acid.

Ayurvedic Properties

Rasa : Madhura, Amla, Katu, Tikta, Kasaya, Guna :Laghu, Ruksa, Vipaka :Madhura, Virya :Usna, Karma :Caksusya, Dipana, Hrdya, Medhya, Sarvadosaprasamana, Rasayana, Anulomana.

Ayurvedic Applications

Sotha, Arsa, Kasa, Pandu, Aruci, Hrdroga, Prameha, Ddavarta, Vibandha, Jirnajvara, Siroroga, Udararoga, Visamajvara, Tamaka, Svasa, Gumna.

Medicinal Uses

It is used in the treatment of asthma, sore throat, vomiting, hiccough, diarrhea, dysentery, bleeding piles, ulcers, gout, heart and bladder diseases.