Witnessed by: Ayurveda · Western · Unani
Bael (Aegle marmelos), of the Rutaceae family. Thorny deciduous tree with trifoliate leaves and a hard woody-shelled fruit; native range: dry forests of the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. Globally recognized as bilva / shriphala in Sanskrit, bel / sriphal in Hindi, safarjal-e-hindi in Arabic, and bael fruit · Bengal quince · stone-apple · wood-apple in English. The part used is fruit (unripe and ripe), root, leaf. The unripe pulp is harshly astringent and mucilaginous; the ripe fruit sweet, aromatic and resinous, with a fragrant marmalade-like flesh.
In this cross-tradition database, we analyze how this substance operates across world medicine systems — tracking its traditional tastes, temperatures, tissue affinities, post-digestive effects, and planetary correspondences across Ayurveda, Unani, and Western herbalism.
BAEL
IDENTITY
Name
- Common
- Bael
- Scientific name
- Aegle marmelos (L.) Corrêa
- Family
- Rutaceae
Form
- Part used
- fruit (unripe and ripe), root, leaf
PROPERTIES
Nature
Taste
how the plant declares itself on the tongue
- Ayurveda
- unripe: astringent · bitter (kashaya , tikta) · ripe: sweet · astringent (madhura , kashaya)
- Western
- astringent · sweet, aromatic
- Unani
- astringent · sweet
Temperature
- Ayurveda
- heating (ushna — the unripe fruit)
- Western
- warm
- Unani
- hot & dry (1st–2nd degree)
Affinity
where in the body it travels
Organs / channels
- Western
- bowels · intestines · stomach
- Unani
- stomach · intestines · liver
PRACTICE
Virtue
Actions
- Ayurveda
- grahi (constipating and absorbent), dipana-pachana (digestive), kapha-vata-hara; the root a chief ingredient of dashamula
- Western
- astringent, tonic to the bowel, for chronic diarrhoea and dysentery
- Unani
- qabiz (astringent), mufarreh (exhilarant, ripe fruit), muqawwi-e-meda (stomach tonic), habis (anti-diarrhoeal)
Cautions
- Contraindications
- constipation and hard stool; the ripe fruit in weak agni (poorly digested it causes flatus)
- Toxicity
- no serious toxicity; excess ripe fruit is heavy and flatulent
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