The tree is considered sacred by Hindus, who associate it with Lord Shiva and consider the leaflets of the trifoliate leaves to be symbolic of his trident or three eyes. No worship of Shiva is considered complete without offering the Bael-leaves.
The tree is a medium sized, deciduous tree, up to 15 m tall with a light brown or greyish bark that may be flaky in older specimens. The branches are slender and drooping and sparsely armed with long straight spines.
The injured bark or branches exude a clear, gummy sap that hangs down in long strands, becoming gradually solid. It is sweet at first taste and then irritating to the throat.
The aromatic leaves are trifoliate with 3 ovate leaflets, frivolously toothed and the terminal leaflet having a longer petiole than the other two. Young leaves are pale green or burgundy, finely hairy while mature leaves are dark green and completely smooth.
Flowers (about 1.5-2 cm) are bisexual, greenish white in color, with 4-5 petals and sweetly scented. They are produced in short drooping unbranched clusters at the end of twigs and leaf axils.
The bael fruit typically has a diameter of between 5 and 12 cm. 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 to 10 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 fruit takes about 11 months to ripen on the tree and can reach the size of a large grapefruit or pomelo, and some are even larger. The shell is so hard it must be cracked with a hammer or machete. The fibrous yellow pulp is very aromatic. It has been described as tasting of marmalade and smelling of roses.
The fruits can be eaten either fresh from trees or after being dried or can be made into jams, candy, toffee, pulp powder or nectar. If fresh, the juice is strained and sweetened to make a drink similar to lemonade. It can also be made into sweetened sherbet, called as Bela pana in India. This drink is consumed in summers and is believed to help overcome sunstrokes.
Bael fruit pulp absorbs the toxins produced by bacteria and other pathogens in the intestine thus helping in the treatment of dysentery and diarrhoea. It is also used as intestinal detox treatment.
The fruit is rich in anti-oxidants and is anti-inflammatory and used in the treatment of inflammations and diabetes
Bael leaves are edible and used in the preparation of salads The leaf juice with honey has been said to be useful for treating fever. Both the fruit pulp and the leaves have a cooling effect and are popular over the summers.
The plant is a host plant for the lime butterfly (Papilio demoleus). It is a hardy plant that can grow in dry soil also and is quite drought resistant.
Scientific name: Aegle marmelos
Common names: Bel, Bilva, Maja, Matum, Bilak, Bengal quince, Bael fruit, Stone Apple, Wood Apple
Family: Rutaceae
Native Distribution: India
Pictures: Wikimedia Commons
References:
