Indian Medicinal Plants

by Kanhoba Ranchoddas Kirtikar | 1918

A comprehensive work on Indian Botany including plant synonyms in various languages, habitat description and uses in traditional medicine, such as Ayurveda....

29. Dillenia indica, Linn.

The medicinal plant Dillenia indica is a member of the Dilleniaceae family. This page includes its habitat, botanical descption, medicinal uses (eg., Ayurveda), chemical constituents and history of use in modern and ancient India.

Index in Flora of British India (Hooker): 1. 36;
Roxb. 451.

Sanskrit:—Bhavya.

Vernacular:—Chalta, (Hind.); Chalta, hargesa (Beng.); Korkot (Santal); Chilta (Monghyr); Panpui (Garo); Chalita otengah, (Assam); Rai, oao (Uriya); Ramphal (Nepal); Phamsikol (Lepcha); Thapru, chauralesia (Mag.); Mothe karamala, motha karmel, karambel (Bomb.); Mota karmal, karmbel (Mar.); Uva (Tam.); Uva, pedda, kalinga (kalinga, Elliot) (Teh); Bettakanagala, kaddkanagula (Kan.); Syalita (Malay.); Honda-para, Wampara (Sinhalese).

Habitat:—Tropical forests in the Western Peninsula, Behar and Ceylon, and the Himalaya, from Nepal to Assam. Commonly cultivated at Dehra and Saharan pur. Eastern Peninsula, from Sylliet to Singapore. Malay Peninsula and the Islands.

Botanical description:—A very handsome tree with fine foliage; moderate-sized, round-headed.

Bark: cinnamon—brown. 

Leaves: closely placed, very large, 10-12 in long, oblong-lanceolate, acute, sharply serrate, glabrous above, finely pubescent on veins beneath; lateral veins numerous, strong; 

Petioles: 1½ in, long, stout, deeply channelled above, pulvinate at base. 

Flowers: very large, 6-7 in. diam, on stout subterminal pedicels.

Sepals: very fleshy. 

Petals: white, sometimes pale-azure orbicular with a broad base. 

Stamens: persistent, yellow. 

Carpels: 15-20, coherent at the axis. 

Styles: spreading like a star, wdiite; ripe carpels enclosed in the greatly enlarged and thickened sepals which are 1 in. thick and strongly imbricate the whole forming a large green globose pomiform fruit, 5-6 in. diam.

Actual fruit: 2⅜ in. diam. 

Pericarp: thin, indehiscent. 

Seeds: numerous, compressed with a hairy margin.

Medicinal uses:—The juice of the fruit, mixed with sugar and water, is used as a cooling beverage in fevers, and as a cough mixture. The bark and the leaves are astringent, and are used medicinally. The fruit is slightly laxative, but is apt to induce diarrhoea, if too freely indulged in. (Roxburgh, Royle, Drury).

The fruit gives a lather with water, says Trimen, and is used as a soap.

Mr. T. P. Ghose of Dehra Dun writes in the Indian Forester for August 1914:—

The fresh ripe fruits were taken and the upper layers of calyces were separated from the inner kernels which consisted mostly of pectous matter of a jelly-like consistence. The kernels being rejected, the calyces were crushed and steeped in 90 per cent, alcohol for six months in a drum with occasional shaking. The alcohol was then filtered off and the residue was pressed almost dry, and this alcohol was added to the first and the whole evaporated off under reduced pressure. The alcoholic extract was finally dried at 100° C. for further examination.

The composition of the calyces of the fresh ripe fruits as was follows:—Moisture............... 86 40 percent.

Moisture .. ... .... ... 86.40%
Alcoholic extract .. ... .... ... 3.00%
Water extract .. ... .... ... 0.37%
Insolubles .. ... .... ... <10.23


The aqueous extract was made after having extracted the calyces with alcohol, which thus represents only pectous matters, etc., left in the insoluble tissues after alcoholic extraction. The alcoholicext act examined qualitatively showed the presence of tannin glucose, malic acid and pectous bodies. Malic acid was also identified by means of its lead salt. The composition of the alcoholic extract obtained as given above was as follows:—

Moisture   ... 8.20%
Tannin   ... 1.40%
Glucose   ... 12.15%
Malic acid   ... 2.21%
Petroleum ether solubles (fats, etc.)   ... 0.72%
Albuminoids   ... 0.85%
Ash   ... 12.63%
Pectous matters, etc.     ... 61.84%


The 61.84 per cent, of pectous matters coming in the alcoholic extract is due to the dilution of alcohol caused by about 86 per cent, of moisture in the fresh fruit. Though originally soluble in dilute alcohol, these bodies became wholly insoluble both in water and in alcohol on anhydration. They were examined and found to be pectous bodies.

The chief ingredients of the calyces of the fresh ripe fruits are tannin, glucose and malic acid. The percentage of these three ingredients calcutated on fresh and dry calyces stand as below:—

    On fresh calyces. On dry calyces.
(1) Tannin 0.05% 0.37%
(2) Glucose 0.40% 2.92%
(3) Malic acid 0.07% 0.51%
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