- Botanical Name(s): Aegle marmelos
- Popular Name(s): Belae Fructus, Bael, Indian Bael, Bilwa
- Parts Used: Fruit
- Habitat: Bel is found in India. Native to Central and Southern India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Burma. It is rarely commercially grown.
Description: Bel plant grows up to a height of 18 meters. The plant bears thorns and fragrant flowers. Its fruits are ovoid shaped, greyish brown in colour and contain numerous seeds. They are 2 1/2 to 3 1/4 inches in diameter. The fruits have faint aromatic odour and mucilagenous taste.
Uses: Bel fruit has mild astringent, antiparasitic, antipyretic properties. The fruits are used to cure dysentery, dyspepsia, heart diseases and diarrhoea. Flesh is eaten raw or processed into drinks or flavoring. Fruit pulp is sometimes used as a detergent and adhesive. Ripe pulp is used as a digestive aid and a laxative. Unripe pulp is used to treat diarrhea and dysentery. All other parts of the plant are used for a wide variety of medicinal purposes. Leaves are poisonous.
Plant Cultivation
Medium sized tree to 40ft. The bael fruit is slow growing but very tough for a subtropical tree, surviving a wide temperature range from 20-120F. It easily withstands long periods of drought, which are needed for better fruit yields. It grows in most soil and climate types, and requires little care when established. Fruits take 10-12 months to ripen from flowering.
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