Scientific Name
Aegle marmelos (L.) Correa
Synonyms
Belou marmelos (L.) Lyons, Bilacus marmelos (L.) Kuntze, Crateva marmelos L., Crateva religiosa Ainslie [Illegitimate], Feronia pellucida Roth [1].
Vernacular Name
| Malaysia | Bilak, bila, bel [2] |
| English | Bael or bel fruit, bengal quince, bitter orange, elephant’s apple, japanese bitter apple, maredoo, stone apple, wood apple [2] [3] |
| China | Meng jia la ping guo, ying pi ju, yin du gou qi [3] |
| India | Bel, beli, belgiri, bila, bilin, shil, shul, siphal, sirphal, shriphal, vilva, willaw, willau (Hindi); bilva, bilwa, shivadrumaa, shivaphala, vilva, vilvam (Sanskrit); kuuviram, vilvama, vilvam , vilva marum (Tamil); bilva, bilva pandu, maaredu, kapitthaphalamu, velagapandu (Telugu); bel, bel kham, belgiri (Urdu); maaredy (Malayalam); bel, vel (Marathi); baelada mara, belpatra, bilva, maaluraa (Kannada); belo [3] |
| Indonesia | Maja, maja batu, bel, bila, bilak, maja pahit, modjo (Java) [2] [3] |
| Philippines | Bael [2] |
| Myanmar | Opesheet, okshit, ohshit [2] [3] |
| Vietnam | Trái mam, bau nau [2] [3] |
| Thailand | Matum, tum (Pattani); ma pin (North) [2] |
| Laos | Toum [2] |
| Cambodia | Bnau, phneou, pnoi [2] [3] |
| Nepal | Bel, belapatra, belpatra [3] |
| Sri Lanka | Be li [3] |
| Japan | Berunoki, igure marumerozu [3] |
| Iran | Bah hindi shull [3] |
| United Arab Emirates | Safargal hindî, safarjal e hindî, shull [3] |
| Turkey | Hind ayva agh [3] |
| France | Bel indien, cognassier du bengal, coing de l’Inde, oranger de malabar, oranger du Malabar [2] [3] |
| Germany | Belbaum, bengalische quitte, indische quitte [3] |
| Hungary | Bengálibirs [3] |
| Italy | Cotogno del bengala, cotogno d’India [3] |
| Portugal | Marmelos de bengala, marmeleiro de India [3] |
| Poland | Klejowiec jadalny [3]. |
Geographical Distributions
Aegle marmelos grows wild in dry forests of the Indian Peninsula, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Bangladesh. It is an old cultivated tree in that region, mainly found in temple gardens throughout India. It has spread to Indo-China, Southeast Asia (in particular Thailand, northern Malaysia, eastern Java and northern Luzon) and other parts of the tropics. [2]
Botanical Description
A. marmelos is a member of family Rutaceae. It is small deciduous tree, 10-15 m tall with trunk of 25-50 cm in diametre. The older branches are spiny and the spines of 1-2 cm long are single or paired. [2]
The leaves are arranged alternately and trifoliolate, with petiole of 2-4 cm long. The lateral petiolules are up to 3 mm long while the terminal up to 15 mm. The lateral leaflets are ovate to elliptic, measuring up to 7 cm x 4.2 cm, while the terminal leaflets are obovate, up to 7.5 cm x 4.8 cm and densely minutely glandular-punctate. [2]
The inflorescences are axillary racemes, 4-5 cm long and clustered. The sepals are broadly deltoid and 1.5 mm long. The petals are oblong-obovate and greenish to white, measuring 14 mm x 8 mm. There are 35-45 white stamens and 4-7 mm long filaments. The ovary measures 8 mm x 4 mm and with very short style. [2]
The fruit is a spherical berry, 5-12.5 cm in diametre and often with a hard, woody shell. It has 8-16(-20) segments, with 6-10 seeds in a clear, sticky and edible pulp. [2]
The seeds are woolly-hairy, each enclosed in a sac of adhesive mucilage which solidifies on drying while its testa is white. [2]
Cultivation
A. marmelos is a hardy, deciduous tree of the subtropics. It grows under harsh conditions, even in extreme temperature, e.g. from 49°C in summer to -7°C in winter in Punjab, up to 1200 m elevation. In Southeast Asia, it only flowers and fruits well where there is a prominent dry season and it is not usually found above 500 m sea level. The tree grows on swampy land as well as dry soils and it tolerates alkalinity. [2]
Chemical Constituent
No documentation
Plant Part Used
No documentation
Traditional Use
No documentation
Preclinical Data
No documentation
Clinical Data
No documentation
Poisonous Management
No documentation.
Line Drawing
References
- The Plant List. Ver 1.1 Aegle marmelos (L.) Corrêa. [homepage on the Internet]. c2013. [updated 2012 Mar 23; cited 2014 July 23]. Available from: http://www.theplantlist.org/tpl1.1/record/kew-2623456
- Sunarto AT. Aegle marmelos (L.) Correa In: Verheij EWM, Coronel RE, editors. Plant Resources of South-East Asia No. 2: Edible fruits and nuts. Netherlands, Pudoc Scientific Publishers;1991. p. 59-60.
- Philippines medicinal plants. Aeginetia indica L. [homepage on the internet] c2014. [updated 2014; cited 2014 Dec 17] Available from: http://www.stuartxchange.com/Bael.html
