Terminalia chebula economic botany notes
Economic Botany and Morphology of Terminalia chebula - Harad
Botanical Name: Terminalia
chebula
Family: Combretaceae
Terminalia chebula, a tree species belongs to
Combretaceae family is an ethnomedicinal plant used by local people all over
India for treating various diseases like laxative, diuretic, asthma, chronic
diarrhea, dysentery, piles etc.
It is commonly known as Harad and Harida.
The fruit of T.
chebula is considered as the “king of medicines” in Ayurvedic
medicine system. Various plant parts of T. chebula are found rich in
phytochemicals such as tannins, flavonoids, sterols, amino acids, chebulic acid
and chebulinic acid.
It is always listed first in the Indian Ayurvedic medicine system because of its extraordinary powers of
healing with a broad spectrum of
biological and medicinal activities.
It is always listed
first in the Indian Ayurvedic medicine system because of its extraordinary
powers of healing with a broad spectrum of biological and medicinal activities.
It occurs scattered in
different forests and found on a variety of soils, clayey as well as
shady.
The whole plant
possesses high medicinal value and traditionally used for the treatment of
different diseases due to the presence of several phytoconstituents.
Different parts of T.
chebula have been reported for their antioxidant, antibacterial, antidiabetic, antimutagenic, cardioprotective
and anti-inflammatory activities due to
the high content of numerous
phytochemicals.
Morphology of plant
Terminalia
chebula is
a medium to large deciduous tree growing to 30 m tall, with a
trunk with round crown and spreading branches.
The leaves are alternate to subopposite in
arrangement, oval have an acute tip, cordate at the base, margins entire,
glabrous with two glands near base.
The fruit is drupe broad, blackish, with five longitudinal
ridges on outer skin. Fruit is green when unripe and yellowish grey when ripe.
The dull white to
yellow flowers are monoecious, and have a strong,
unpleasant odour. They are borne in terminal spikes or short panicles. Flowering
time is March-April and November-December.
Cultivation
Terminalia chebula is best planted during the monsoon season when the soil is moist, and the temperature
is moderate. Fallen fruits are collected in first half of January, they are
dried and the seeds can be stored for one year. Seed germination is low because
of hard cover and seed requires pre-sowing treatment. Best germination is
obtained when the seeds are chipped at their broad end without damaging the
embryo and then soaked in water for 36 h, before sowing in nursery beds.
Germination starts after 15 days and continues for 3-4 weeks. The tree can be
successfully raised by directly sowing the seed or by transplanting the
seedlings or by stem cuttings.
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