Bel or Bael (Aegle marmelos syn. Crataeva marmelos) as medicinal herb in Chhattisgarh, India

Research Note - Pankaj Oudhia
© 2001,2002,2003 Pankaj Oudhia - All Rights Reserved

Bel is an important non-wood forest produce of Chhattisgarh. The forests of all parts particularly the dense forests of southern part of Chhattisgarh are rich in natural population of Bel. As non-wood forest produce, all parts of Bel is collected and supplied to the traders at national and international drug markets. There is a fairly high demand of Bel fruits. Bel is an essential herb in home gardens. It is not under cultivation at commercial level as horticultural crop. Dhamtari, a city situated 70. kms. far from Raipur, is famous market for naturally collected Bel herb. During season, several truckloads of different parts of Bel herb are supplied to traders at Kolkata city every week. The traders at national and international drug markets are well aware of natural occurrence of Bel in Chhattisgarh. For the traditional healers and natives of Chhattisgarh, Bel is a valuable herb. They use the Bel in different worship ceremonies as offering. The natives prefer to plant atleast one Bel tree in their homes because it is common belief among them that the presence of this tree in home gardens make them prosperous and healthy for ever. In order to root out the bad effects of other herbs in home gardens, the natives also plant this tree. In ancient Indian literatures it is mentioned that one should offer the Bel leaves to the Lord Sun (Surya Devta) to make him happy. It is also mentioned that the Lord Sun likes the flowers of Kaner (Nerium sp.) but one Bel leaf is having more potential as compared to thousand Kaner flower. The natives are aware of this information. The natives having financial problem, perform special worship. In this special worship, the Bel leaves are offered to the fire, with uttering of mantras.

Common names of Bel
Languages / regions	Names
1. Bengali, Hindi, Marathi, Assamese	Bael
2. Gujarati	Bili, Bel
3. Kanarese	Bilva, Belpatra, Malura
4. Sanskrit	Bilva, Shivadruma,
5. Malayalam	Maaredy
6. Oriya	Belo
7. Tamil	Vilvam
8. Urdu	Bel
9. English	Bael Tree, Bengal Quince.

The natives always keep the roots (collected on special occasion) with them during travel. In this article, at first I will describe its botany and reported medicinal uses and after this description, I will write on traditional medicinal knowledge about Bel in Chhattisgarh. According to reference literatures, bell is a slender, aromatic tree having height upto ten meters; stem somewhat fluted bole of 3.0-4.5 meters, branches armed with straight, sharp, axillary, 2.5-3.0 cm long thorns; Bark soft, corky, light grey or greyish - yellow, aromatic, exfoliating in irregular flakes; Leaf trifoliate, oftenly digitately five-foliolate; leaflets ovate or ovate-lanceolate, lateral sessile, terminal long petioled; Flower large, greenish white, sweet scented, in short axillary panicles, more or less smooth; Fruit globose, grey or yellowish, about twenty cm in diameter, rind woody; Seed numerous, oblong, compressed, embedded in sacks, with orange coloured, sweet pulp. As medicinal herb, Bel holds a reputed position in all system of medicine in India. As medicine, roots, root barks, leaves, flowers and fruits are used. According to Ayurveda, root cures fevers, abdominal pain, heart palpilation, urinary troubles, hybochondriasis, meloncholia whereas leaves are astringent, digestive, laxative and febrifuge. Leaves are useful in treatment of ophthalmia, deafness and inflammations; Flowers allay thirst and vomiting. Unripe fruits are oily and cures pain and dysentery whereas ripe fruits are acrid, appetiser, binding, tonic, febrifuge and useful in many common diseases. According to Unani system of medicine, ripe Bel fruit is hot, dry, tonic, restorative, astringent and laxative. It is good for lung, heart and brain.

Like Herbal glasses for diabetes and heart troubles, the traditional healers also prepare the herbal glass using Bel wood. The knowledge of Bel wood to prepare herbal glasses is restricted to very limited traditional healers and this unique knowledge is not transferred to new generations. According to the traditional healers of Chhattisgarh, the herbal glass prepared from Bel wood is useful in treatment of stomach related troubles. It is recommended for persons of all age groups. For children, the small glass is prepared. The use of Bel Herbal glass is not reported in available literatures and this article is a first written document describing this use in detail. Two types of Bel herbal glasses are available in Chhattisgarh. Many natives aware of this use, purchase the Bel wood, give it to local carpenters and with the help of lath machine they carve the wood in shape of glass. The natives fill water in this glass at night and next morning drink the leachate empty stomach. In general, they use this glass during rainy season when stomach troubles are common. The carpenters of the state are aware of these glasses and they take very less charge for preparation of glasses. A small survey was conducted to find out the popularity of different herbal glasses among natives. My NGO, SOPAM (Society for Parthenium Management) conducted this survey in all district of Chhattisgarh. The survey revealed that the natives use the glasses made up for diabetes and heart troubles very frequently. According to the carpenters of Chhattisgarh, they prepare hardly ten to twelve Bel herbal glasses per month. Many Ayurveda experts from Amarkantak Hills are also engaged in manufacturing of Bel Herbal Glasses. As expert when I discussed the use of Bel Herbal Glasses at State Bio-diversity Action Plan Committee, the members were surprised to know the unique traditional medicinal knowledge about Bel in Chhattisgarh. We discussed on the possibilities of establishing small cottage industries based on these herbal glasses in area, rich in natural population of these herbs.

Few months back, I got an opportunity to visit Kolkata city. During interaction with my trader friend, he informed me about special herbal glasses for the problem of constipation. When I saw it, it was Bel Herbal Glass and according to him, he is purchasing these glasses from Chhattisgarh (3-4 thousand glasses per month). I was shocked. The traders are already aware of miracle effects of Bel herbal glasses and they have even commercialised it. The state authorities are still not aware of this fact. The traders inform me that they are purchasing these glasses from the supplier of Raipur city. After coming back, I met that supplier. With him, I visited the factory. This was very sad to see that the Bel woods were dumped under open sky and in case of shortage, they were using other woods as adulteration. Unfortunately, the supplier is not aware of specifications and other details. As I described earlier that there are two types of glasses. The second type of glasses are prepared by the traditional healers themselves. They donot rely on carpenters. They select 15-20 years old Bel tree for glasses. Like other healers, they worship the Bel tree by adding Black Til Seed (Sesamum indicum) in roots and apply water in roots, one day prior to harvesting. Although they have no scientific explanations for the use of Til seeds in roots but I personally feel that there must be some relationship between the application of Til seeds and medicinal properties of Bel. With the help of allelopathic studies, one can explain it in detail and with proof. After harvesting the wood, the healers dip the wooden piece in specially prepared herbal combinations for two to three days. The healers never disclose the ingredients of this special herbal combination. After this specific duration, they prepare wooden glasses at their homes. Although from market point of view, these glasses are not attractive but they are having rich medicinal properties. For different age groups, the healers prepare different sizes of glasses. The pregnant women are not advised to use these glasses. This is very important information. In the labels of glasses ready for sale in Kolkata city, this important information was not there. Possibly they are not aware of this important information.

The traditional healers of Chhattisgarh are not in favour of its commercialisation. Secret herbal combinations are main constraints. The healers suggest the patients to use these glasses till cracks occur. In general, within one month the cracks appear on surface. The healers replace the glass with new one. It is not a costly affair for the natives because most of the healers do not charge any money for these valuable glasses and others charge the cost of manufacturing, that is very low. According to the traditional healers, there is no common recommendation for every one. After observing the patients carefully and thoroughly, the healers recommend its use. For different patients, different time durations are recommended. The healers also warn that one must not use this glasses without consulting the healers. The round the year use is also not recommended. In complicated cases, the healers give herbal combination to the patients and instruct them to add this combination in Bel herbal glass before adding the water. During interactions with the traditional healers specialised in use of Bel Herbal Glasses, I realised that several Ph.Ds. are even not enough to document this in depth knowledge. Although the information provided in this article is looking complete but it is just a result of surface investigations. I am studying the traditional knowledge and science sincerely and will write more on these unique aspects in future articles.

The natives use different parts of Bel herb as medicine. Here I am describing some unique traditional medicinal knowledge. The uses of Bel fruits in different forms have already been described by early workers in detail. In order to purify the environment of home and to repel away the evil spirits, they natives burn the dried roots of Bel and Priyangu every evening particularly in rainy season. Equal proportion of roots are used for this purpose. I am not sure what there fumes do with the evil spirits but I have found these fumes very much effective against mosquitoes and houseflies, that behaves like evil-spirits in rainy season. With the help of innovative herb growers, I am evaluating the efficacies of aqueous extract and leachate of this root combination on selected medicinal crops including Safed Musli (Chlorophytum borivilianum). As the name of Priyangu is coming for the first time in my articles, I am describing its botany. The scientific name of Priyangu is Aglaia elaeagnoides (Syn. A. roxburghiana; family : Meliaceae). According to reference literatures, it is tree with leaflets oblong - lanceolate; 7.5-10.0 x 2.0-3.5 cm, rounded at base, drying brown beneath, Inflorescence rufous scaly; Calyx scaly; Petals erect, oblong; Berry globose to sub-globose, ferruginous; Seeds ex-arillate. Flowering and fruiting time December to February in Chhattisgarh conditions. The natives give the trifoliate leaves of Bel to woman having desire to become mother. They suggest the woman to take trifoliate leaf with the milk of black cow on specific occasions. The natives particularly the young natives use the juice of Bel leaves as natural herbal deodorant. They apply the fresh juice in sweating spots in order to remove the odd smell. During field works or visit to forest, when natives get injuries they use Bel leaves in different ways. It is good styptic and wound healer. To remove the thorn, the natives apply the leaf juice on affected part to dissolve it. I have already written about the uses of Fudhar leaf latex (Calotropis gigantea ) and Dhikuar gel (Aloe vera) in my previous articles. In case of burns, the healer apply the leaf juice of Bel as first aid measures. I have experienced the miracle healing effects of the juice. According to the natives, it is also effective in case of bites by angry bees. The application reduces the pain immediately.

According to the traditional healers of Chhattisgarh, there are two distinctive types of Bel tree. One from natural forest and another from cultivated origin. The natural form possess more thorns whereas the cultivated ones are thornless or having relative less thorns. The healers prefer the natural thorny tree parts to prepare the medicine. According to them, the domestication, genetic improvement and advanced agronomical practices have increased the size of fruits but decreased its valuable medicinal properties. In this article, I am describing some unique uses, as informed by the traditional healers of Chhattisgarh, India, during my ethnobotanical surveys. According to the healers specialised in treatment of diabetes, the use of Bel leaves with Kali Mirch (Black Pipper) is beneficial for pancreas and one can use it as supplement with other routine treatments. The traditional healers of Bastar region, prepare a special herbal oil by adding the cow urine in the sweet pulp of Bel and base oil. This oil is stored for future use. It is considered promising against ear related troubles. In case of earache, as first step the healers apply one or two drops of this oil and in most of the cases the pain alleviate by this small treatment. In reference literatures, the use of Bel as brain tonic is mentioned. The traditional healers use the decoction of Bel roots as brain tonic. According to them it is also beneficial for the patients having heart troubles, insomnia and even insanity. According to the traditional healers of Nagri-Shawa region, this decoction is useful in malarial fever also. The fresh leaf juice of Bel is also used in case of heart troubles. In case of eye troubles, the healers collect the leaves and fry it with ghee. This combination is kept on the eyelids, for treatment. A lot have been written on other uses of Bel, I am not repeating it. As I always write, this is not a complete detail about traditional medicinal knowledge, as my ehtnobotanical surveys are in progress. Thank you very much for reading the article.