A REVIEW International Journal of Agricultural Engineering | Volume 11 | Sp.

Issue | April, 2018 | 159-163

 ISSN–0974–2662 Visit us : www.researchjournal.co.in DOI: 10.15740/HAS/IJAE/11.Sp. Issue/159-163

Wood apple-Its nutritive value and medicinal benefits

Tripti Yadav, Deepak Vishwakarma, Shweta Saloni, Soumitra Tiwari and Sindhu
Received : 10.04.2018; Accepted : 13.04.2018

See end of the Paper for Abstract : Wood apple also known as Aegle marmelos is a dry land fruit in the shape of pyriform,
authors’ affiliation oval, oblong; 15-17 m in diameter; belongs to Rutaceae family with botanical name Limonia
Correspondence to : acidissimia L .It requires a monsoon climate with a distinct dry season. It can be planted in all kinds
Tripti Yadav of soil. It is highly valued for its therapeutic values in Ayurveda and is known to cure liver
Department of Food disorders, indigestion, piles, respiratory problems, diarrhea and dysentery. The aroma of wood
Processing and Technology,
Bilaspur University, Bilaspur
apple is a complex mixture of many volatile compounds such as esters, alcohol, aldehydes, ketones,
(C.G.) India ethers and aldehyde which predominates in immature wood apple but their content decreases as
the fruit matures. All the volatile components are of great importance for the complete characteristic
aroma profile of the fruit. The fruit can be used in the preparation of product such as jelly, chutney,
jam and beverage. Some people eat raw wood apple pulp with or without sugar; Srilankan people
prepare a popular drink known as Simhalese as dimbulkiri (wood apple milk) by mixing ripened
wood apple pulp with coconut milk and palm sugar. A fruit with such diverse values and immense
potentialities indicate its scope for processing commercially into valuable products. Thus wood
apple brings about many nutritional and medicinal benefits which can be used in development of
various value added products.
Key words : Aegle marmelos, Rutaceae, Nutritional properteis, Medicinal properties

How to cite this paper : Yadav, Tripti, Vishwakarma, Deepak, Saloni, Shweta, Tiwari, Soumitra and
Sindhu (2018). Wood apple-Its nutritive value and medicinal benefits. Internat. J. Agric. Engg.,
11(Sp. Issue) : 159-163, DOI: 10.15740/HAS/IJAE/11.Sp. Issue/159-163.

W
ood apple also known as Aegle Marmelos is along the border of fields, roads, railways lines and as a
underutilized, former and indigenous fruit roadside tree, near villages and banks of river are the
plants. It is known by many different names most common places where the plants are found as stray
such as elephant apple, kainth and monkey fruit. Its shape plant.
is pyriform, oval , oblong ,15-17m in diameter belongs to Plant seed are important unconventional sources
Rutacae family with the botanical name Limonia of proteins which when incorporated in food products
acidissimia L. It is one of the hard fruit crop found all would improve the functional properties such as
over the plains of southern Maharastra, West Bengal, absorption of water or oil and also in the formation of
Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh. stable foam .They are also good nutritional supplements.
Wood apple is small to moderate size, deciduous, The fruit is amazingly hard rind which can be
glabrous tree with thorny branches reaching to a height difficult to crack , security rind about 6mm thick, greyish-
of about 10m with a grith about 0.6m to 1.6m (Troup, white,pulp is brown, odorous, mealy, resinous, astringent,
1921). The fruit is not under regular orcharding, however acid or sweetish with numerous small, white seeds

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 Tripti Yadav, Deepak Vishwakarma, Shweta Saloni, Soumitra Tiwari and Sindhu

scattered through it. There are two forms, one with large then be stored in the freezer.
sweet fruits and the other with small, acid fruits.
Propagation is done by seed used and vegetative Different ways to eat wood apple :
method. But high rate of seeding mortality and out – You can eat its flesh raw
breeding nature of this plant account for the poor – Make your own refreshing wood apple juice
regeneration and inferior germplasm. To overcome this, – Replace your old-style chutneys with wood
in vitro propagation through axillary bud proliferation has apple chutney
been developed (Jebas et al., 2015). It is a climacteric – Prepare some delicious wood apple jelly-
fruit, ripening may also takes place after fruit is harvested. children would love it
It is well known for its quality and storage life, which – You can also replace jams with wood apple jam
helps avoiding the waste of raw material. – Wood apple ice cream
The fruit contains a number of phyto constituents, – You can also enjoy a delicious glass of wood
which are the key factors in the medicinal values. Almost apple smoothie
all parts of the plant such as leaf fruit seed bark and root – Wood apple milkshake is another great beverage
are used to cure a variety of disease (Sekar et al., 2011). – Combine wood apple with other fruits and make
a delicious fruit salad.
Table 1 : Taxonomy
Kingdom Plantae
Composition :
Order Sapindales
Indian wood apple seed (Feronia elephantum
Family Rutaceae
Correa) constituting 6% (dry weight basis) of the fruit,
Subfamily Aurantioideae
contains 34% oil and 28% protein. The kernel comprises
Genus Aegle
62% of the seed. The oil is yellow with an iodine value
Species A.marmelos
131, saponification value 192, unsaponifiable matter 1%.
History and origin of wood apple : Fatty acid profile of oil by GLC is: palmitic 19.3, stearic
Wood apple is native and common in dry plains. It 7.3, oleic 27.2, linoleic 19.8 and linolenic 26.4%
first originated in India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka (Ramakrishna et al., 1979).
and Vietnam. It grows well during monsoon and its tree
grows upto 450 meter. Wood apple is resistant to drought Distribution :
and it grows well in light soils. A. marmelos is a subtropical plant and grows upto
In India, it grows throughout the dry regions. Wood an altitude of 1,200 m altitude from sea level. It grows
apple is abundantly found in Indian states such as Andhra well in the dry forests on hilly and plain areas. A.
Pradesh, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, marmelos is a widely distributed plant and found in India,
Karnataka, Kerala and western Himalayas. Besides Ceylon, China, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Pakistan,
India, wood apple widely grows in Malaysia, Thailand, Bangladesh, Nepal, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand,
Cambodia and other parts of South east Asia. Indonesia, Malaysia, Tibet, Sri Lanka, Java, Philippines
and Fiji. In India it found in Sub-Himalayan tracts from
How to store and effect of storage on wood apple : Jhelum eastwards to West Bengal, in central and south
It was observed when wood apple is stored for a India. It found almost in all the states of India. A.
prolonged period, the consistency and viscosity of its pulp marmelos is known by different names in different parts
was not affected, but its taste reduced. The content of of world, some of them are mentioned in Table 2.
ascorbic acid reduces during storage due to oxidation. Name Language Aegle marmelos : Latin Wood/
The content of calcium and phosphorus also decreases Stone apple, Bengal Quince, Indian Quince : English
with storage of wood apple. Ripe wood apples can be Mbau Nau, Trai Mam : Vietnamese Bel, Gudu : Nepali
easily and safely stored at room temperature. If you want Toum : Lao (Sino-Tibetan) Bnau : Khmer Modjo :
to store them for a little longer period, place them in the Javanese Oranger du Malabar : French Ohshit, opesheet
refrigerator. If you need to store it for much longer period, : Burmese Mojo tree : Indonesian Pokok Maja Batu :
remove the pulp and mix it with lemon juice. This can Malay Mapin, Matum, Tum : Thai Shreephal, Bilva, Bilwa

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 Wood apple-its nutritive value & medicinal benefits

Table 2 : Different names A. marmelos the frequency of irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS),
Name Language intestinal spasm thus beneficial in treating off diarrhea,
Aegle marmelos Latin dysentery and other infections of Elementary canal.
Wood/Stone apple, Bengal Quince, Indian Quince English Marmelos juice contains anti-inflammatory properties that
Bel, Gudu Nepali are used to reduce histamine induced contraction. This
Toum Lao (Sino-Tibetan) also gives positives result to relax and sooth inflamed
Bnau Khmer organs.
Modjo Javanese One hundred grams of Bel fruit pulp provides 140
Oranger du Malabar French calories, and the nutrients found in that amount boost
Ohshit, opesheet Burmese organ activity and metabolic speed. This all results in
Mojo tree Indonesian additional energy and reserves in the body. The high
Pokok Maja Batu Malay
protein content also means that the body can heal faster
Mapin, Matum, Tum Thai
and the muscles can grow stronger, further boosting
Shreephal, Bilva, Bilwa Sanskrit
energy reserves. In Ayurvedic treatments, all parts of
Sir Phal Old Hindi
the wood apple plant are used to cure snakebites. As a
Kaveeth Marathi
good source of beta-carotene, wood apples also cure
Bel, Shreefal Bengali
liver problems. They contain thiamine and riboflavin, both
Vilva Maram, Vilva Pazham Tamil
of which are known as liver health boosters, this fruit
Bel Urdu
also functions as an ingredient in cardiac tonics. Eating
the pulp of raw marmelos with the sugar provides relief
: Sanskrit Sir Phal : Old Hindi Bel, Shreefal : Bengali from the morning sickness during pregnancy.
Kaveeth : Marathi Vilva Maram, Vilva Pazham : Tamil Cancer is a major public health problem, being the
Maredu : Telugu, Bel : Urdu. second highest cause of death in both men and women
in developed as well as developing countries (Agrawal
Medicinal properties : et al., 2012). In 2008, approximately12.7 million new
Marmelos is extensively described in the Vedic cancer cases (56% of which were in developing regions
literature for the treatment of various diseases. A. of the world) and 7.6 million cancer deaths (63% in less
marmelos is traditionally used to treat jaundice, developed regions) occurred. By the year 2020,
constipation, chronic diarrhea, dysentery, stomachache, predictions report the incidence of cancer will increase
stomachic, fever, asthma, inflammations, febrile delirium, 3-fold, with a disproportionate rise in cancer cases and
acute bronchitis, snakebite, abdominal discomfort, acidity, deaths in developing countries with limited resources to
burning sensation, epilepsy, indigestion, leprosy, myalgia, tackle the problem (Baliga et al., 2012).
smallpox, spermatorrhoea, leucoderma, eye disorders, The essential oil isolated from the leaves of A.
ulcers, mental illnesses, nausea, sores, swelling, thirst, marmelos tree has proved to have antifungal activity
thyroid disorders, tumors, ulcers and upper respiratory against animal and human fungi like Trichophyton
tract infections (Sekar et al., 2011). mentagrophytes, Trichophyton rubrum, Microsporum
The wood apple tree is the most valuable therapeutic gypseum, Microsporum audounii, Microsporum
plant in India, which is recorded in Charka Samhita, a cookie, Epidermophyton floccosum, Aspergillus
Sanskrit historic healthcare treatise. All parts of the plant, niger, Aspergillus flavus andHistoplasma capsulatum
includes the stem, bark, root, leaves and fruit has (Dhankhar et al., 2011).
therapeutic benefits and has been used as traditional Generally, A. marmelos considered safe and few
medicine since ancient time. studies have been carried out with respect to its toxicity.
It has bitter pungent, full of antioxidant and help to Veerappan et al. (2007) studied toxic effects of A.
stimulate the pancreas to secrete insulin, which leads to marmelos leaves. They found no remarkable changes
lowering of blood sugar. The leaves can be used against in histopathological studies of heart, liver, kidney, testis,
diabetes. It support intestinal biological formulations and spleen and brain after 50 mg/kg body weight of the
protects the digestive system from ulceration, reduces extracts of A. marmelos administered intraperitoneally

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for 14 d successively. Pathologically, neither gross head bath. Inflammation can be quickly cured when the
abnormalities nor histopathological changes were extract of bael is applied on the inflamed region.
observed. These researchers also found that
intraperitoneal administration of the extracts of the leaves Nutritional benefits of bael/wood apple per 100 g :
of A. marmelos at doses of 50, 70, 90 and 100 mg/kg The vast array of health benefits attributed to wood
body weight for 14-consecutive day to male and female apples are mainly due to their nutrients, vitamins, and
Wistar rats did not induce any short-term toxicity organic compounds, including tannins, calcium,
(Veerappan et al., 2007).Marmelos leaf, seed and fruit phosphorous, fibre, protein, and iron. You might have
is known to affect male fertility in reversible manner. A. heard the very popular saying that ‘One apple a day
marmelos bark extract is a rich source of marmin and keeps the doctor away’, so this holds true even for wood
fagarine known for reducing male fertility. Agrawal et apple. It is rich in nutrients and a great source of fibre,
al. (2012) found that methanolic extract of A. vitamins, calcium, phosphorous, protein, iron and beta-
marmelos causes a dose and duration dependent carotene. Due to these reasons wood apple or bael fruit
infertility via reducing reproductive organ weight and is a must have fruit. Wood apple is a good source
serum testosterone levels. They also report reduction in carbohydrate and dietary fibre. It is also found that the
sperm density, motility, viability and sperm acrosomal pulp contains appreciable amount of protein and low
integrity. Exfoliation of elongated spermatids, nuclear amount of fat. Furthermore, wood apple also contains
chromatin condensation and degeneration were found in various important minerals such as calcium, iron, zinc,
testes histopathological studies and presence of spaces magnesium and phosphorus. It also contains vital vitamins
within the germinal epithelium signifying testicular such as beta-carotene (a precursor of vitamin A),
cytotoxicity and necrosis. Finally time dependent thiamine (vitamin B1), riboflavin (vitamin B2) and vitamin
complete infertility was observed in that study. The C.
authors also reported that after the withdrawal of The presence of protein in a food is determined by
treatment, complete restoration of the morphological as the presence of essential amino acid in it. It was found
well as physiological parameters in extract treated rats that wood apple contains appreciable amount of protein.
(Agrawal et al., 2012). Amino acid present in wood apple include: Presence of
Unripe bael fruit may help protect against Amino Acids (Singh, 2015).
inflammatory bowel disease (a class of conditions that – Alanine
includes Crohn’s disease and colitis), suggests a study – Arginine
by Behera et al. (2012). For the study, a group of rats – Aspartic acid
with colitis were treated with extract of unripe bael – Glycine
fruit.Results revealed that the extract may help to reduce – Histidine
intestinal inflammation, a key marker of inflammatory – Isoleucine
bowel disease. Several preliminary studies indicate that – Leucine
bael fruit may aid in diabetes management. In a study, – Phenylalanine
for instance, tests on diabetic rats demonstrated that bael – Proline
fruit may help treat diabetes by lowering blood sugar – Tryptophan
levels (Kamalakkannan et al., 2013). – Tyrosine
Scurvy disease is caused due to the deficiency of – Valine
vitamin C and this effects the blood vessels. Marmelos
being a rich source of vitamins is capable of curing this Precautions, side effects and disadvantages :
disease when added to the diet. The extract of bael leaf In spite of having lots of nutritional health benefits
can be used to control the cholesterol level in blood which and medicinal benefits, eating bael need some precautions
makes the bael leaves highly therapeutic too. The oil as it may cause some side effects and disadvantages.
extracts from bael can be used to cure respiratory Some of are mentioned below:
disorders like asthma or cold. This oil can also provide Eating bael pulp or drinking bael juice more than
resistance to cold when applied on the scalp before a the requirement may lead to the stomach pain, bloating,

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Table 3 : Nutrient composition REFERENCES

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Authors’ affiliations: of Aegle marmelos Corr., an Indian medicinal plant.
Deepak Vishwakarma, Shweta Saloni and Soumitra Tiwari, Phytomedicine, 14(2-3):209–215.
Department of Food Processing and Technology, Bilaspur University,
Bilaspur (C.G.) India

Sindhu, Department of Food Technology, Bundelkhand University,

Jhansi (U.P.) India

11 Year
th

 of Excellence 

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