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 parviflora Thwaites, Terminalia reticulata Roth, Terminalia zeylanica Van Heurck & Müll. Arg.
- Common name: Black Myrobalan, Myrobalan
- Assamese: শিলিখা Shilikha
- Bengali: হরীতকী Haritaki
- Chinese: 诃子
- Gujaratai: હરડી Hardi, હરડે Harde
- Hindi: हरीतकी Harithaki
- Kannada: ಅಳಲೆ ಕಾಯಿ Alale kayi
- Konkani: Ordo
- Malayalam: കടുക്ക Katukka
- Manipuri: মনাহী Manahi
- Marathi: हिरडा Hirada
- Nepali: हर्रा Harra,
- Oriya: Karedha
- Pashto: هريړه
- Sanskrit: हरीतकी Harithaki
- Tamil: கடுக்காய் kadukkaay
- Telugu: కరక్కాయ karakkaya
- Thai: สมอไทย
- Vietnamese: Chiêu lieu
Description: Deciduous trees, to 25 m high, bark 5-6 mm thick, surface dark brown to black, fissures shallow, vertical, exfoliating in thick scales; blaze yellowish-brown; young shoots densely pubescent; branchlets brownish or greyish, glabrous. Leaves simple, opposite to alternate, exstipulate; petiole 12-25 mm long, stout, grooved above, pubescent, 2 sessile glands at the top; lamina 9.5-28 x 4-13 cm, ovate, elliptic, obovate or elliptic-obovate, base round, obtuse, oblique or subtruncate, apex acute, acuminate, obtuse or apiculate, margin entire, glabrous above tawny villous beneath, coriaceous; lateral nerves 6-12 pairs, pinnate, ascending, prominent, arched towards the margin, intercostae reticulate, prominent. Flowers bisexual, greenish-white, 5-6 mm across, in terminal and axillary spikes with offensive smell; bracts 2-3 mm long; calyx tube 1.5-2.5 × 0.8-1 mm, villous, constricted above the ovary, lobes 5, creamy, triangular, 1.5 mm; petals 0; stamens 10 in 2 rows; filaments 4-6 mm; disc 5-lobed, villous; ovary 2 mm long, inferior, densely villous, 1-celled; style 5 mm, subulate; stigma terminal. Fruit a drupe 3-4 x 2-2.5 cm, obovoid, woody, obscurely 5 angled, glabrous, greenish-yellow; seed one.
Ayurvedic uses: Sotha, Arsha, Aruchi, Hrudroga, Kasa, Pandu, Prameha, Udavarta, Vibandha, Jirna jvara, Siroroga, Tamakasvasa, Gulma, Udararoga. [API, Vol 1]
The chebulic myrobalan fruit is a very important herb in the Ayurvedic tradition, and consequently, in the Royal Thai tradition as well. The unripe fruit is a common detoxifying remedy for fever, parasitic infections, spleen disorders, jaundice, skin disease, and allergic reactions of the skin. Chebulic myrobalan corrects digestive disorders and can be used for constipation, diarrhea, dysentery, and intestinal parasites. It also has a beneficial effect on the nervous system, nervous disorders, and cancerous tumors. It is an expectorant used for colds, congestion, cough, asthma, bronchitis, and laryngitis, and an astringent used to halt blood or mucous in stool, sputum, or vaginal discharge. The ripe fruit is astringent, demulcent, and antidiarrheal. [A Thai Herbal: Traditional Recipes for Health and Harmony]
Used in Ayurveda, Unani and Sidha. Herbal preparation antidyslipemic and antioxidant: Terminalia bellirica, Terminalia chebula, Andrographis paniculata and Gymnema sylvestre. Powder made of Terminalia chebula and Asparagus racemosus mixed with milk and drunk for cooling effect. Insect galls on the leaves crushed and taken with water to cure asthma. Bark diuretic, cardiotonic, disinfectant, wound dressing; poultice of stem of Opuntia dillenii with bark of Terminalia chebula applied in ulceration in venereal diseases; latex of Euphorbia neriifolia mixed with dry powdered bark of Terminalia chebula given in constipation; dry powdered roots of Abroma augustum with bark of Dillenia indica and Terminalia chebula given in urinary diseases. Seeds eaten for cough; contact therapy, a seed is tied to the arm or a necklace of seeds is worn to prevent smallpox. Fruits laxative, astringent, stomachic, tonic, antibacterial, antifungal, alterative, for inflamed gums and as a relief in asthma, often used in combination with Phyllanthus emblica L. and Terminalia bellirica; fruit paste applied on neck for cough, and also on forehead for headache; fruit paste applied on seasonal wounds and cuts of the feet, also used to massage the body to cure bodyache; roots of Neonotonia wightii ground with the fruits of Terminalia chebula and the paste used in toothache. Fruit kept in water overnight, the filtrate used as a soothing eye wash. Dry fruits decoction taken for diarrhea, stomachache, spleen disorders; dried fruits chewed and the juice used to cure coughs. Ripe fruit purgative, tonic, carminative; rind of fruit chewed in asthma and cough; fruits of Terminalia chebula ground with the latex of Ficus racemosa and the paste applied in rheumatism, rheumatoid arthritis. Unripe fruit blood purifier, highly astringent, used for diarrhea, dysentery, metrorrhagia, digestion, heart, constipation, diseases of lung, used to expel diseases via diarrhea and urine before taking other medicine; unripe fruit roasted and chewed to cure cough. Veterinary medicine, leaves of Cassia italica with flower of Calotropis gigantea and fruit of Terminalia chebula pounded and given orally in constipation. Stem bark and fruits as fish poison. [CRC World Dictionary of Medicinal and Poisonous Plants]
Gentle purgative, astringent (unripe fruits are more purgative, ripe ones are more astringent; sennoside A and anthraquinone glycoside is laxative, tannins are astringent), stomachic, antibilious, alterative. Used in prescriptions for treating flatulence, constipation, diarrhoea, dysentery, cyst, digestive disorders, vomiting, enlarged liver and spleen, cough and bronchial asthma, and for metabolic harmony. Bark—diuretic. [Indian Medicinal Plants An Illustrated Dictionary]
Uses: The dried immature fruits of Terminalia chebula Retz. (Myrobalans, British Pharmaceutical Codex, 1934) are astringent and contain 20% to 40% of tannins. In Burma, the fruits are eaten to relieve the bowels of costiveness and to invigorate health. In China, the fruits are used to stop flatulence and promote expectoration. In India, the fruits are eaten to invigorate health, promote digestion and expectoration, soothe sore throat and inflamed areas, stop dysentery and vomiting, and to treat ascite (Ayurveda). In Indonesia, the fruits are astringent. In Malaysia, the fruits are used to check bleeding, assuage liver discomfort and stop dysentry. In Vietnam, the fruits are used to relieve the bowels of costiveness. [Medicinal Plants: Drugs For The Future?]
100 g of fresh corms is boiled in 1 cup (250 mL) of water for 10–15 min. Then the water is filtered in a fi ltration pot and the corms are dried in sunlight for 4–5 h. Then they are mixed in 60–70 g of Aloe vera (Musabbar, Alons) and 50 g of Terminalia chebula (Harir) and ground for 10–15 min. Thirty or forty small tablets, 5–6 g each, are made from this powder; they are stored in a glass or plastic bottle and given to patients suffering from rheumatism. For children, not used. For adults, 1 tablet (5–6 g) of drug (at one time) is given with 1 cup (250 mL) of milk or water twice daily (morning–evening) for 15–20 days. [Medicinal Plant Biodiversity of Lesser Himalayas-Pakistan]
Medicinal use: Fruits are given internally in the treatment of indigestion, constipation, dysentery, jaundice, piles and painful menstruation, and as a general tonic. Externally they are used to treat eye discharges. Unripe fruit is purgative and ripe ones astringent and used also in fevers, coughs, asthma, flatulence, hiccup, colic, enlarged spleen and liver, rheumatism and urinary diseases. Powdered fruit is useful in carious teeth, bleeding and ulceration of gums. Bark acts as a cardio tonic and diuretic.
Other uses: The fruit is the source of tannin, dye and ink. Fruits taste bitter, astringent when first chewed, afterwards if water is taken, it tastes very sweet. Wood is greenish yellow, hard and heavy and takes a good polish. The wood is used for making houses, furniture, tool handles, agricultural implements etc. Wood extracts contain tannin that are used to produce ink. Traditional use by the herbal healer of Bolipara: Local herbal healers use this for several treatment purposes as, cough, dysentery, fever, food poisoning. Jaundice, menstrual problems, rheumatic pain and sore. Different ethnic groups, such as Chakma, Tripura, Marma, Mru and Bawm use this species for their treatment. Several Bengali community of the Bolipara also uses this plant as medicine. [Selected Medicinal Plants of Chittagong Hill Tracts]
536 Published articles of Terminalia chebula
