IloveIndia

Fitness IloveIndia

Haritaki

Botanical Name(s): Terminalia Chebula, Terminalia Reticulata
Family Name: Combretaceae
Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Magnoliophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Myrtales
Family: Combretaceae
Genus: Terminalia
Species: T. chebula
Popular Name(s): Black Myrobalan, Chebulic Myrobalan, Hardh, Ink Tree, Harar, Hardad, Indian Gall Nut
Parts Used: Fruit, Root, Bark.
Habitat: Grown throughout India

Description
The deciduous Haritaki tree grows at an altitude of 1,800 meters. The round tree is crowned and braches spread out, with a diameter of 1.5 to 2.5 meters. The long ovate leaves are acute, in opposite pairs about 10 to 20 cm long. The flowers are dull white with spikes and can be found at the end of the branches. The fruit is hard and yellowish green in color. Each fruit has a single seed that is light yellow in color. The tree can be found in the sub Himalayan tracks, from Ravi to West Bengal and in the deciduous forests of Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Assam and Maharashtra. It is known as haritaki, abhaya and pathya in Sanskrit; harad in Hindi; hirada in Marathi; alalekaayi in Kannada; kadukkai in Tamil; horitoky in Bengali; xilikha in Assamese and karakkaya in Telugu.

Plant Chemicals
(+)- tannic acid, chebulinic acid, gallic acid, resin, anthraquinone, sennoside, mucilage, chebulin, terchebin, palmitic acid, stearic acid, oleic acid, linoleic acid, arachidic acid, behenic acid.

Uses & Benefits of Haritaki
Caution