Aegle marmelos (L.) Corr. Serr.

Sanjeet Kumar

Aegle marmelos (L.) Corr. Serr.

Comman name: “Bael”

Botanical name: Aegle marmelos (L.) Corr. Serr

Family: Rutaceae

Vernacular name(s)                                        Taxonomy

           

Oriya: Baelo                                                    Kingdom: Plantae

Hindi: Bael                                                      Order: Sapindales

Telgu: Maredu                                                 Family: Rutaceae

Punjabi: Beel                                                   Genus: Aegle

Marathi: Kaveeth                                             Species: marmelos

Botany of Aegle marmelos L.

It is a tree with modrate-sized, slender, gum bearing, 1 or more axillary spines. Leaves alternate, 3-foliate; petiole long; leaflets entire or crenulate, pubescent. Flowers white, large, in axillary panicles. Fruit smooth, woody greenish shell, sometime gray or yellow; globose or ovoid. Pulp yellow with aroma. Hairy seeds are encapsulated with mucilage.

Distribution

Throughout the India, wild and cultivated. Sri Lanka, Nepal, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Java and Myanmar, Indo-China. Cultivated in South East Asia, Malaysia and some Tropical countries.

Chemical compound(s)

There are approximately 100 bioactive compounds are isolated, major are Skimmianine, Aegelin, Lupeol, Marmelosin, Marmelide etc.

Medicinal value(s)

Roots are used to cure Cardiac malfunction, leaves are used as an Laxative, unripe fruit is helpful curing dysentery, ripe fruit used as tonic. Leaf has Anti-Cancer, Analgesic and Antiallergic activity, Fruits have Antihelminthic and Antiulcer activity, Bark has Antiviral and mature bark has Abortifacient activity.

Common use(s)

• This tree is a larval food plant for the two Indian Swallowtail butterflies.
• The fruit is eaten fresh or dried and leaves are eaten as salad greens.
• The juice is strained and sweetened to make a drink similar to lemonade.
• It  is the only member of the monotypic genus Aegle
• In Hinduism the tree is sacred. It is used in the worship of Shiva. The trifoliate leaves symbolize the trident that Shiva holds in his right hand.
• In the traditional culture of Nepal, the bael tree is part of a fertility ritual for girls known as the Bel baha. Girls are "married" to the bael fruit and as long as the fruit is kept safe and never cracks the girl can never become widowed, even if her human husband dies.

(P. Maity, D.Hasda , U.Bandhopadhya, DK Mishra, 2009, Biological activities of crude extracts and chemical constituents of Bael, Aegle marmelos (L.) Corr., Indian Journal of Exprimental Biology. 47: 849-861)