Aegle marmelos is adeciduous shrub or small to medium-sized tree, up to 13 metres (43 feet) tall with slender drooping branches and rather open, irregular crown.[12]
Thebark is pale brown or grayish, smooth or finely fissured and flaking, armed with long straight spines, 1.2–2.5 centimetres (1⁄2–1 inch) singly or in pairs, often with slimy sap oozing out from cut parts. The gum is also described as a clear, gummy sap, resembling gum arabic, which exudes from wounded branches and hangs down in long strands, becoming gradually solid. It is sweet at first taste and then irritating to the throat.[8]
Theleaf is trifoliate, alternate, each leaflet5–14 cm (2–5+1⁄2 in) x2–6 cm (3⁄4–2+1⁄4 in), ovate with tapering or pointed tip and rounded base, untoothed or with shallow rounded teeth. Young leaves are pale green or pinkish, finely hairy while mature leaves are dark green and completely smooth. Each leaf has 4–12 pairs of side veins which are joined at the margin.[13]
The flowers are 1.5 to 2 cm, pale green or yellowish, sweetly scented, bisexual, in short drooping unbranched clusters at the end of twigs and leaf axils. They usually appear with young leaves. The calyx is flat with 4(5) small teeth. The four or five petals of6–8 millimetres (1⁄4–3⁄8 in) overlap in the bud. Many stamens have short filaments and pale brown, short style anthers. The ovary is bright green with an inconspicuous disc.[citation needed]
The fruit typically has a diameter of between 5 and 10 cm (2 and 4 in).[14] It is globose or slightly pear-shaped with a thick, hard rind and does not split upon ripening. The woody shell is smooth and green, gray until it is fully ripe when it turns yellow. Inside are 8 to 15 or 20 sections filled with aromatic orange pulp, each section with 6 (8) to 10 (15) flattened-oblong seeds each about 1 cm long, bearing woolly hairs and each enclosed in a sac of adhesive, transparent mucilage that solidifies on drying. The exact number of seeds varies in different publications. The fruit takes about 11 months to ripen on the tree, reaching maturity in December.[14] It can reach the size of a largegrapefruit orpomelo, and some are even larger. The shell is so hard it must be cracked with ahammer ormachete. The fibrous yellow pulp is aromatic. It has been described as tasting ofmarmalade and smelling of roses. Boning (2006) indicates that the flavor is "sweet, aromatic and pleasant, although tangy and slightly astringent in some varieties. It resembles a marmalade made, in part, with citrus and, in part, with tamarind."[15] Numerous hairy seeds are encapsulated in a slimymucilage.
The bael tree containsfurocoumarins, includingxanthotoxol and the methyl ester of alloimperatorin, as well asflavonoids,rutin andmarmesin; a number of essential oils; and, among its alkaloids,á-fargarine(=allocryptopine),O-isopentenylhalfordinol,O-methylhafordinol.[16] Aegeline (N-[2-hydroxy-2(4-methoxyphenyl) ethyl]-3-phenyl-2-propenamide) is a constituent that can beextracted from bael leaves.[17][18] Aeglemarmelosine has been isolated as an orange viscous oil.[19]
Trunks and leaves of Indian bael (Aegle marmelos) inWest Bengal, India.
Aegle marmelos is native across theIndian subcontinent andSoutheast Asia, and is cultivated throughoutSri Lanka,Tamilnadu, Thailand, andMalesia.[2] Studies indicate the origin of the bael fruit in India, in theEastern Ghats and in thecentral tonorthern parts of the country.[20][21][22] In this country, states where the bael fruit is grown include Uttar Pradesh, states in Eastern India (Bihar, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, and Orissa), as well as in the Himalayan foothills, the Deccan plateau and the Indo-Gangetic plains.[23][24]
It occurs in dry, openforests on hills and plains at altitudes from 0–1,200 m (0–3,937 ft) with mean annual rainfall of 570–2,000 mm (22–79 in).[8][9] It has a reputation in India for being able to grow in places that other trees cannot. It copes with a wide range of soil conditions (pH range 5–10), is tolerant of waterlogging and has an unusually wide temperature tolerance from −7–48 °C (19–118 °F).[9] It requires a pronounced dry season to give fruit.
Aegeline is a known constituent of the bael leaf and consumed as adietary supplement with the intent to produce weight loss.[17][18] In 2013, the U.S.Food and Drug Administration (FDA),Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Department of Defense Armed Forces Health Surveillance Center, andHawaii state and local health officials identified an outbreak of 97 persons with acute non-viralhepatitis that first emerged in Hawaii. Seventy-two of these persons had reported using thedietary supplement OxyElite Pro, containing aegeline, which was manufactured by theDallas-based company USPlabs.[17][25] FDA had previously taken action against an earlier formulation of OxyElite Pro because it containeddimethylamylamine, a stimulant that FDA had determined to be anadulterant when included in dietary supplements, and could cause high blood pressure and lead to heart attacks, seizures, psychiatric disorders, and death.[25] USPlabs subsequently reformulated this product without informing the FDA or submitting the required safety data for a new dietary ingredient.[25]
Doctors at the Liver Center atThe Queen's Medical Center investigating the first cases in Hawaii reported that between May and September 2013, eight previously healthy individuals presented themselves at their center suffering from a drug-induced liver injury.[17][26] All of these patients had been using the reformulated OxyElite Pro, which they had purchased from different sources, and which had different lot numbers and expiration dates, at doses within the manufacturer's recommendation.[17][26] Three of these patients developed fulminant liver failure, two underwent urgent liver transplantation, and one died.[17][26] The number of such cases ultimately rose to 44 in Hawaii.[17][26] In January 2014, leaders from the Queen's Liver Center informed state lawmakers that they were almost certain that aegeline was the agent responsible for these cases,[27] but themechanism of how aegeline may damage the liver has not been isolated.[17]
Bael is considered to be one of the sacred trees of Hindus,[29] (known inSanskrit as बिल्वbilva[30]), and thus they are used in Hindu rites.[31][32] Earliest evidence of the religious importance of bael appears in theSri Sukta of theRigveda, which reveres this plant as the residence of goddessLakshmi, the deity of wealth and prosperity.[33] Bael trees are also considered an incarnation of the goddessSati.[34] Bael trees can be usually seen near Hindu temples and home gardens.[35] It is believed thatShiva is fond of bael trees, to a point of having earned the epithet बिल्वदण्डBilvadaṇḍa or "bel-staffed".[30] Its leaves and fruit still play a main role in his worship, because the leaf's trifoliate shape is seen to symbolise histrident. Another belief is that the trifoliate shape of Bael leaf is symbolic representation of three eyes ofLord Shiva.[4][36][37]
In the traditional practice of the Hindu and Buddhist religions by people of theNewar culture ofNepal, the bael tree is part of afertility ritual forgirls known as theBel Bibaaha. Girls are "married" to the bael fruit; as long as the fruit is kept safe and never cracks, the girl can never become widowed, even if her human husband dies. This is a ritual that guarantees the high status of widows in the Newar community compared to other women in Nepal.[38]
^abcOrwa, C (2009)."Aegle marmelos"(PDF).Agroforestree Database:a tree reference and selection guide version 4.0.Archived(PDF) from the original on 9 May 2016.
^abcdefgMisra KK (1999)."Bael". NewCROP, the New Crop Resource Online Program, Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture, Center for New Crops & Plant Products, Purdue University, W. Lafayette, IN. Retrieved20 January 2016.
^Vijai Selvaraj, K.S. et al. (2024).Aegle marmelos (L.) Correa. In: Máthé, Á., Khan, I.A. (eds.).Medicinal and Aromatic Plants of India. Vol. 3. Medicinal and Aromatic Plants of the World, vol 11. Springer, Cham. p. 19.doi:10.1007/978-3-031-75661-0_2
^abAvula, B; Chittiboyina, A. G; Wang, Y. H; et al. (2016). "Simultaneous Determination of Aegeline and Six Coumarins from Different Parts of the PlantAegle marmelos Using UHPLC-PDA-MS and Chiral Separation of Aegeline Enantiomers Using HPLC-ToF-MS".Planta Medica.82 (6):580–8.Bibcode:2016PlMed..82..580A.doi:10.1055/s-0042-103160.PMID27054911.S2CID205000525.
^Saroj, P. L.; Kumar, R. (2024). "Arid fruits". In P. E. Rajasekharan; V. Ramanatha Rao (eds.).Fruit and Nut Crops. Handbooks of Crop Diversity: Conservation and Use of Plant Genetic Resources. Springer Nature. p. 619.ISBN9789819953486.
^Vijai Selvaraj, K.S. et al. (2024). "Aegle marmelos (L.) Correa". In: Máthé, Á., Khan, I.A. (eds) Medicinal and Aromatic Plants of India, Vol. 3. Medicinal and Aromatic Plants of the World, vol 11. Springer, Cham. pp. 21-22.doi:10.1007/978-3-031-75661-0_2
^Bobade, H., Sharma, S., Singh, A. (2020). "Indian Bael". In: Nayik, G.A., Gull, A. (eds) Antioxidants in Fruits: Properties and Health Benefits. Springer, Singapore. p. 137.doi:10.1007/978-981-15-7285-2_8
^Vijai Selvaraj, K.S. et al. (2024). "Aegle marmelos (L.) Correa". In: Máthé, Á., Khan, I.A. (eds) Medicinal and Aromatic Plants of India, Vol. 3. Medicinal and Aromatic Plants of the World, vol 11. Springer, Cham. pp. 21-22.doi:10.1007/978-3-031-75661-0_2
^Bobade, H., Sharma, S., Singh, A. (2020). "Indian Bael". In: Nayik, G.A., Gull, A. (eds) Antioxidants in Fruits: Properties and Health Benefits. Springer, Singapore. p. 137.doi:10.1007/978-981-15-7285-2_8
^abcdRoytman MM, Pörzgen P, Lee CL, et al. (August 2014). "Outbreak of severe hepatitis linked to weight-loss supplement OxyELITE Pro".Am J Gastroenterol.109 (8):1296–8.doi:10.1038/ajg.2014.159.PMID25091255.S2CID28252720.
^S.M. Jain, K. Ishii (2012).Micropropagation of Woody Trees and Fruits Volume 75 of Forestry Sciences. Springer Science & Business Media.ISBN9789401001250.
Blancke, Rolf (2016).Tropical Fruits and Other Edible Plants of the World: An Illustrated Guide. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press. p. 10.doi:10.7591/9781501704284-002.
Bobade, H., Sharma, S., Singh, A. (2020). "Indian Bael". In: Nayik, G.A., Gull, A. (eds) Antioxidants in Fruits: Properties and Health Benefits. Springer, Singapore. pp. 135-161.doi:10.1007/978-981-15-7285-2_8
Saroj, P. L.; Kumar, R. (2024). "Arid fruits". In P. E. Rajasekharan; V. Ramanatha Rao (eds.).Fruit and Nut Crops. Handbooks of Crop Diversity: Conservation and Use of Plant Genetic Resources. Springer Nature. pp. 611–636 [619–620].ISBN9789819953486.
Vijai Selvaraj, K.S. et al. (2024). "Aegle marmelos (L.) Correa". In: Máthé, Á., Khan, I.A. (eds.).Medicinal and Aromatic Plants of India. Vol. 3. Medicinal and Aromatic Plants of the World, vol 11. Springer, Cham. pp. 17-29.doi:10.1007/978-3-031-75661-0_2
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