Latin name – Aegle marmelos
English name – Stone Apple, Holy fruit tree
Indian name –Bael, bhel, bilwa, belaphal, Bengal Quince

Introduction- Bael is a very good source of protein which is 5.12 per cent of the edible portion. Fresh half-ripe Bael fruit is mildly astringent and is used for dysentery and diarrhea. The pulp may be eaten or the decoction administered. Bael is said to cure without creating any tendency to constipation. Bael leaves, fruits and root can be used as tonic and coolant with antibiotic properties

Parts Used: Fruits & Leaves.

Uses of Bael :
Bael leaves are extremely useful for treating Diabetes, jaundice, cholera and asthma. Bael leaves are made into a poultice and used in the treatments of ophthalmia. Bael Leaf poultice is applied to inflammations - with black pepper for edema, constipation, and jaundice - with water or honey it is good for catarrh and fever.

1. Bael roots are sweet which cures fevers caused by tridosho, stop pain in the abdomen, the palpitation of the heart, poverty of seminal fluid and all types of urinary troubles and melancholia. Bael roots and the bark of the Bael tree are used in the treatment of fever by making a decoction of them. They are also useful in the disorders of vata, pitta and kapha.
2. Bael fruits are valuable for its rich nutritive, sweet, aromatic mucilage and pectin contents – very good for all kinds of stomach disorders. Bael Fruits are very useful in chronic diarrhea and dysentery, particularly in the case of patients having diarrhea, alternating with the spells of constipation. Sweet drink (sherbet) prepared from the pulp of the Bael fruits produce a soothing effect on the patients who have just recovered from bacillary dysentery.

The pulp from unripe Bael fruits are soaked in gingelly oil for a week and this oil is smeared over the body before bathing. The unripe and half-ripe fruits improve appetite and digestion (Jain, 1968; Jauhari, 1969). As per Indian Ayurvedic concept this oil is said to be useful in removing the peculiar burning sensation in the soles. Rind is used for acute and amoebic dysentery, griping pain in the loins and constipation, gas, and colic, sprue, scurvy.

3. People in South India use the juice of bael leaves to get relief from wheezing and respiratory spasm. The leaf juice is mixed in warm water with a little pepper and given as a drink.

Dosage: Bael Powder - 3-6 grams per day.

Article on Bael By Dr. Vatsayan – A consultant Ayurveda physician in India
Called by many names as bilva, bel, sadaphal and shriphal and held sacred, the bael tree is found from the sub-mountainous regions to the dry plains throughout India. More often it is seen in the vicinity of temples where devotees offer its leaves to Lord Shiva. The medium-size, strong and thorny tree with leaves in the set of three is usually laden with hard-shelled yellow or light-green fruits. Almost all parts of the bael tree — root, leaves, bark and fruit — are medicinal.
Bael finds mention in many ancient ayurvedic texts. It has been described as kashaya (astringent) and tikta (bitter) in taste and laghu (light), rooksha (dry) and ushna (hot) in effect. It alleviates vata and kaphay. The chemical composition of its fruit pulp shows mucilage, pectin, sugar tannic acid and a volatile oil. The wood ash contains potassium and sodium compounds, phosphates of lime and iron, calcium, magnesium and silica etc.

Different medicinal properties are attributed to various parts of bael, but it is the half-ripe bael fruit which is known for its anti-pyretic, digestive and restorative action on the body. Moreover, it is a unique fruit which is famous as laxative and at the same time as an intestinal astringent also. Leaves of bael are anti-diabetic whereas the bark and the root have proven anti-inflammatory properties.

The hard rind or shell of the bael fruit cracks open to reveal pale, tawny and aromatic pulp which is, perhaps, the most effective herbal remedy for diarrhoea and dysentery. Being astringent, it is also helpful in a number of other complicated intestinal disorders such as the irritable bowel syndrome and ulcerative colitics. The use of the ripe fruit is highly efficacious in the case of chronic constipation and where patients complain of incomplete evacuation. Some of the common uses of bael are indicated below.

Due to its digestive qualities bael sharbat is an effective home remedy for diarrhoea and dysentery. Also in the Irritable Bowel Syndrome, where the patient remains psychologically preoccupied by bowel upheavals, bael acts as stool-regulariser. Patients of ulcerative colitis can use bael fruit, its sharbat or murabba for gentle and less painful bowel clearance.

The dried powder of the bael pulp crushed along with an equal amount of sonth, rock salt, roasted jeera and nagarmotha, if taken in the dose of one to two gm twice a day with buttermilk or water, is very helpful in mucous diarrhoea.
Bael leaves are an important constituent of a number of anti-diabetic medicines. The chewing of five to 10 leaves daily on an (empty stomach) controls diabetic polyurea.

In case fresh bael is out of season, dried bael pulp, which is available in pansari shops, should be procured and crushed. This powder can be used in the dose of one to two gm twice a day. However, to make muraba, half-ripe fruit, and for making sharbat full-ripe bael, should be used. There are various classic ayurvedic medicines such as bilvadi churna, bilva panchaka qwath and pilva tailam where bael is used as the chief ingredient. The bark of bael root constitutes the famous dashamoola (ten roots of medicinal plants) which is a proven ayurvedic remedy for chronic inflammatory conditions and many of the gynaecological problems