CHAPTER 13
Bibhitaki: A Gift of Nature

The life of all living things is food; complexion, clarity, voice, growth and the intelligence all are established in food.

Charak

Bibhitaki is one of the oldest medicinal plant in India. Its botanical name is Terminalia belerica – Fructus. Bibhitaki is sanskrit word means “one who keeps you away from disease”. It is a true gift of nature and possesses unique healing properties like very few other plants on this earth. Since thousand of years this herb is widely used as a remedy for the treatment of diseases affecting lungs, intestine and urinary tract. T.belerica is commonly found in Indian forests. Bibhitaki is a rejuvenative, beneficial for hair, throat, eyes and a laxative herb. Along with amalaki and haritaki, it is an incomparable ingredient in the Ayurvedic tonic triphala, where its function is, among others, to nurture and tone the tissues of the digestive system. It is known as a stomach and intestinal tonic and harmonizes all the processes of the digestive system.

Bibhitaki Herb Information

1. Nomenclature

Family name: Combretaceae

Scientific Name: Terminalia belerica – Fructus

Sanskrit Name: Bibhitaki

English Name: Beleric myrobalan

Common Name: Baheda, Beleric myrobalan, Bhomora, Bhomra, Bhaira, Beleric Myrobalan, Bahedam, Beheda, Bahera etc.

2. Bioenergestics

Rasa: Kashaya, Madhura

Guna: Dry, light

Virya: Ushna, laghu, ruksha

Vipaka: Madhura

Dosha effect: VPK=, aggravates vata in excess

Dhatu: Plasma, Muscle, Bone, Nerve

Srota: Digestive, Respiratory, Nervous, Excretory

Prabhava: Bibhitaki is called ‘intimidating’ because disease shrinks in the face of its power to heal.

3. Biomedical Properties

Expectorant, broncho-dilator, astringent, laxative, anthelmintic, astringent, anthelmintic, aperient, expectorant, sweet, anodyne, stypic, narcotic, ophthalmic, antipyretic, antiemetic and rejuvenating

Habitat

Locally known as Baheda in India, has been used for centuries in the Ayurveda. The dried fruit used for medicinal purposes found growing wild throughout the Indian subcontinent, Sri lanka, and South East Asia. This is an important Ayurvedic tree found throughout the Indian forests and plains.

Botanical Characters

Bibhitaki is a large deciduous tree with a buttressed trunk, thick brownish-grey bark covered with numerous fine longitudinal cracks, attaining a height of between 20 and 30m. The tree grows up to 1,200 m in elevation. Leaves 10-20cm long by 7-12 cm wide, elliptic, ovate. Leaves when matured are glabrous and usually punctuate the upper side, midrib promonent. The leaves are crowded around the ends of the branches, Wood is yellowish grey, hard and course. alternately arranged, margins entire. Flowers – pale greenish yellow with offesive odour. The fruits are ovoid, grey, velvety, hard thick walled, 12- 25 mm in diameter. Nut is stony.

Bibhitaki Fruits

Chemical Constituents

Detailed chemical analysis of bibhitaki indicate presence of following active principles. Triterpenoids (bellericoside, bellericanin, cardiac glycoside saponisn), sterols (beta-sitosterol) and tannin (gallic acid, ellagic acid). Active principles includes glucoside (bellericanin) gallo-tannic acid, colouring matter, resins and a greenish yellow oil. lignans(termilignan and thannilignan), flavone and anolignan. Tannins, ellargic acid, ethyl gallate, galloyl glucose and chebulaginic acid, phenyllemblin, mannitol, glucose, fructose and rhamnose.

Plant Part Used: Fruits

Health Benefits

T. chebula is an important medicinal plant with diverse pharmacological spectrum.

• • Like Haritaki (T. chebula), Bibhitaki (T. belerica) possess anti-bacterial activity against many pathogenic bacteria and is a good remedy for many everyday illnesses.
• • Bibhitaki is the best treatment for all sicknesses of the respiratory system.
• • On one hand it soothes coughs, while on other hand it helps to expel phlegm from the lungs, during which it also nurtures them. In this way bibhitaki promotes the healing of wounds caused by excessive coughing.
• • It is known as a stomach and intestinal tonic and complements all the processes of the digestive system. It is equally helpful in treating loss of appetite, gas, and parasites.
• • As an adaptogen, bibhitaki strengthens the immune system as a whole, and balances all three doshas, no matter what the initial cause for the imbalance was.
• • In Ayurveda the bibhitaki is classified as an expectorant. It is an integral part of well known laxative formulation triphala used in treatment of constipation and common cold.
• • Results of one clinical trial, bibhitaki was found to have anti-asthmatic, anti-spasmodic, expectorant and anti-tussive activities.
• • Oil extract from the seed pulp is used in leucoderma and alopecia. Modern investigations have proved the laxative activity of the oil.
• • Bibhitaki is an antioxidant, it neutralizes the free radicals generated in the body thus reduces the aging process.
• • When taken internally or applied externally to skin and hair, it exhibits remarkable nurturing effects. Especially good for nurturing hair, it is used in cases of premature graying, and can also be used as a natural black dye.
• • Present day scientific studies support the use of bibhitaki as a heart and liver tonic.
• • It prevents the buildup of fat in both organs, and so diminishes the cause of many liver and heart diseases.
• • Furthermore, in Ayurveda bibhitaki is used for treating infections of the eye, and increases eyesight.
• • T. belerica is a valuable Rasayana, whose healing potential has yet to be fully realized. It will certainly going to get importance in 21st century.
• • It helps in getting deep sleep and alleviates pain in vata disorders.
• • It is best for treating alpha disorders, by removing mucous from the digestive tract helping in better absorption of nutrients by the body.
• • Mature and dry fruit is constipating and is useful in diarrhoea.
• • It is also useful in treating cardiac disorders, haemorrhage, leprosy, ulcers, urinary calculus, dyspepsia and general debility.
• • The mature, dried fruit of bibhitaki is effective in the treatment of dysentery and intestinal parasites but should be taken along with purgatives such as Markandika (Cassia angustifolia) to counteract its constipating effects; the sun-dried unripe fruit however is gently aperient and can be used on its own.
• • Bibhitaki is a good remedy in for vomiting in pregnancy.
• • It is useful antilithic in gall bladder and urinary diseases, liquefying and expelling the stones.
• • A decoction of the dried fruit may be taken internally and externally as an eyewash in the treatment of ophthalmological disorders.
• • The kernel is typically removed before bibhitaki is used, and specifically stated to be narcotic used topically as an analgesic in the treatment of inflammation and pain, and internally in vomiting, bronchitis and colic.
• • Other studies indicate that bibhitaki has retroviral actions in inhibiting the viral growth in leukemia patients, and yet another study indicates the strong inhibiting effect on the HIV virus.
• • As a daily rejuvenating an preventative supplement bibhitaki is superb, especially for kapha body types. Bibhitaki reduces excess body water, fat, and slowly regenerates the body on a tissue level. For people prone to viral infections, or a history of leukemia in the family, Bibhitaki is a recommended daily supplement, alone or on the triphala formula.

Home Remedies

• • For severe cough and asthma the powder of the dried fruit may be taken with honey.
• • Mix bibhitaki with saindhava (rock salt), pippali and buttermilk, in case of hoarseness.
• • The fruit pulp mixed with ghee is covered with cow dung and heated in a fire, and held in the mouth to control coughing.