Terminalia chebula

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Terminalia chebula
Harra (Terminalia chebula) leafless tree at 23 Mile, Duars, WB W IMG 5905.jpg
A leafless T. chebula tree
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Plantae
(unranked):
Angiosperms
(unranked):
Eudicots
(unranked):
Rosids
Order:
Myrtales
Family:
Combretaceae
Genus:
Terminalia
Species:
T. chebula
Binomial name
Terminalia chebula
Synonyms[1]
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  • Buceras chebula (Retz.) Lyons
  • Combretum argyrophyllum K.Schum.
  • Myrobalanus chebula (Retz.) Gaertn.
  • Myrobalanus gangetica (Roxb.) Kostel.
  • Myrobalanus tomentella Kuntze
  • Terminalia acuta Walp.
  • Terminalia argyrophylla King & Prain
  • Terminalia gangetica Roxb.
  • Terminalia parviflora Thwaites
  • Terminalia reticulata Roth
  • Terminalia tomentella Kurz
  • Terminalia zeylanica Van Heurck & Müll. Arg.

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Terminalia chebula, commonly known as yellow- or chebulic myrobalan, is a species of Terminalia, native to South Asia from India and Nepal east to southwest China (Yunnan), and south to Sri Lanka, Malaysia, and Vietnam.[2][3] Apparently, no common name exists in English, but harad, which seems to be a variant of the Hindi name haritaki, has been used in publications. [4]


Taxonomy

Swedish naturalist Anders Jahan Retzius described the species.

Many varieties are known, such as:[2]

  • T. c. var. chebula - leaves and shoots hairless, or only hairy when very young
  • T. c. var. tomentella - leaves and shoots silvery to orange hairy

Description

T. chebula is a medium to large deciduous tree growing to 30 m (98 ft) tall, with a trunk up to 1 m (3 ft 3 in) in diameter. The leaves are alternate to subopposite in arrangement, oval, 7–8 cm (2.8–3.1 in) long and 4.5–10 cm (1.8–3.9 in) broad with a 1–3 cm (0.39–1.18 in) petiole.[2] They have an acute tip, cordate at the base, margins entire, glabrous above with a yellowish pubescence below.[citation needed] The fruit is drupe-like, 2–4.5 cm (0.79–1.77 in) long and 1.2–2.5 cm (0.47–0.98 in) broad, blackish, with five longitudinal ridges.[2] The dull white to yellow flowers are monoecious, and have a strong, unpleasant odour. They are borne in terminal spikes or short panicles. The fruits are smooth ellipsoid to ovoid drupes, yellow to orange-brown in colour, with a single angled stone.

Distribution and habitat

T. chebula is found in deciduous forests of the Indian subcontinent, dry slopes up to 900 m (3000 ft) in elevation.[5]

Cultivation and uses

T. chebula

This tree yields smallish, ribbed and nut-like fruits which are picked when still green and then pickled, boiled with a little added sugar in their own syrup or used in preserves. The seed of the fruit, which has an elliptical shape, is an abrasive seed enveloped by a fleshy and firm pulp. It is regarded as a universal panacea in Ayurveda and in the traditional Tibetan medicine.

Seven types of fruit are recognized (i.e. vijaya, rohini, putana, amrita, abhaya, jivanti, and chetaki), based on the region where the fruit is harvested, as well as the colour and shape of the fruit. Generally speaking, the vijaya variety is preferred, which is traditionally grown in the Vindhya Range of west-central India, and has a roundish as opposed to a more angular shape.[5]

Chemical composition

A number of glycosides have been isolated from haritaki, including the triterpenes arjunglucoside I, arjungenin, and the chebulosides I and II. Other constituents include a coumarin conjugated with gallic acids called chebulin, as well as other phenolic compounds including ellagic acid, 2,4-chebulyl-β-D-glucopyranose, chebulinic acid, gallic acid, ethyl gallate, punicalagin, terflavin A, terchebin, luteolin, and tannic acid.[6][5] Chebulic acid is a phenolic acid compound isolated from the ripe fruits.[7][8] Luteic acid can be isolated from the bark.[9]

T. chebula also contains terflavin B, a type of tannin, while chebulinic acid is found in the fruits.[10]

Gallery

  • Trunk of T. chebula

  • Fruit of T. chebula

  • A fallen fruit

References

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Flora of China: Terminalia chebula
  3. ↑ Germplasm Resources Information Network: Terminalia chebula
  4. ↑ http://agris.fao.org/agris-search/search.do?recordID=IN2013000364
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 http://www.toddcaldecott.com/index.php/herbs/learning-herbs/361-haritaki
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Preparative isolation of hydrolysable tannins chebulagic acid and chebulinic acid from Terminalia chebula by high-speed counter-current chromatography. Quanbin Han, Jingzheng Song, Chunfeng Qiao, Lina Wong and Hongxi Xu, J. Sep. Sci. 2006, 29, 1653 – 1657

citation Lee H 2006 was published in 2007. (PubMed)

External links

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