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 Vibhitaki in Sanskrit means ‘fearless’. The story goes that this large, deciduous tree was avoided by the Hindus of Northern India as it was supposed to be inhabited by demons. And so, only the fearless ones would go and sit in its shade. Introduced to the West from India by the Arabs, Vibhitaki is one of the most effective rejuvenative and preventive medicine herbs. It is one of the three fruits that are used in preparing Triphala, the well known Ayurvedic formula for detoxification.
Botanical Name: Terminalia bellerica
Family: Combretaceae
English name: Belleric myrobalan
Hindi name: Vibhitaki, Beheda
Vibhitaki is a large deciduous tree, 10-12 m or more in height, commonly found in plains and forests and small hills. Its fruits ripen towards November.
Leaves: alternate, broadly elliptic or elliptic-obovate, clustered towards the ends of the branches, puberulous when young but glabrous on maturity, veins are prominent on both sides.
Flowers: axillary spikes longer than the petiole but shorter than the leaves.
Fruit: sub-globose, 5-18 cm in diameter, externally greenish when young, yellowish-brown when ripe, rind about 1.5 mm-3 mm thick, hard and woody, surface smooth or slightly granular bearing a circular scar at the point of attachment with peduncle. Fresh pulp of ripe fruit is brown. Dried pulp is hard and pale to dark red in color, frequently breaks away from the rind during drying leaving a thin layer attached to it, faintly aromatic, mucilaginous and slightly astringent.
Seeds: hairy seeds embedded in yellowish-brown sticky mucilage, oblong, flat, woody.
Parts used as medicine: Fruit and seed.
Ayurvedic recommendations
Vibhitaki is light and dry in nature and has a bitter, pungent, astringent taste. Ayurveda recommends it for increasing appetite and metabolism, reducing vata and kapha, and for rejuvenation purposes. It is also indicated in dysentery, constipation, loss of appetite, and certain infectious diseases.
Dose - 3-6 g of the drug in powder form.
Therapeutic uses
1. Vibhitaki acts as an expectorant when used with honey and is used in cases of cough or sore throat. It is also used as astringent gargle and is said to be a very good antiseptic.
2. Its astringent properties make it a useful remedy for treating dysentery and diarrhea, and inflammations of the stomach and intestine.
3. It helps improve appetite by removing the ‘kapha’ from the intestine.
4. Vibhitaki present in the hair tonics and hair products help keep the hair black and promote hair growth.
5. As a constituent of the Ayurvedic formula- Triphala, Vibhitaki helps lower the lipid levels in the liver and the heart, thus lowering the risk for hepatic disease and cardiovascular disease.
Side effects: Vibhitaki is considered safe and well-tolerated for everyday use. However, it should always be used at recommended doses and in the form of Triphala. Oil from Vibhitaki is purgative in large doses.
Research
1. T. bellerica is widely used in the traditional healing systems to treat hyperactive gastrointestinal and respiratory diseases. A study was undertaken to investigate the mechanisms underlying the anti-spasmodic and bronchodilatory properties of T. bellerica fruit. The results showed that T. bellerica fruit had a combination of anti-cholinergic and calcium ion antagonistic effects that explained its use in colic, diarrhea, and asthma. [Journal of Ethnopharmacology. Vol 116, Issue 3, 28 March 2008, pp 528-538]
2. The effect of 75% methanolic extract of Terminalia bellerica fruits was studied in alloxan induced hyperglycemia along with antioxidant defence mechanism in experimental animals. The results indicated a significantly lowered oxidative stress produced by allloxan and significant increase in the activity of catalase in blood and liver, thus, suggesting that T. bellerica fruit extract possessed anti-diabetic and anti-oxidant activity and these activities were interrelated. [Indian J Exp Biol. 2009-Apr; vol 47 (issue 4) : pp 270-5]
3. Researchers from Division of Ethnopharmacology, Tropical Botanic Garden and Research Institute, Kerala, India, isolated two new compounds, namely termilignan and thannilignan, from the T. bellerica fruit extract that possessed demonstrable anti-HIV-1, anti-malarial, and anti-fungal activity. [http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9249982]
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