Myrobalans
Myrobalani
- Known today as
- The dried fruits of Terminalia chebula, T. bellirica, and Phyllanthus emblica.
- Kind
- Plant
- Constituents
- chebulagic and chebulinic acids, gallic acid, corilagin, and 1 more
- Poisoning
- The anthranoid purgatives
- In other databases
- Plants of the World Online search · GBIF search · Wikidata search
Revised October 1, 2026: Lore added from texts read in full. Version 1, first published September 25, 2026.
Myrobalans: what was it used for?
Arabic purges “for every humor,” each kind for its own; see the confection of hamech.
Myrobalans: what does modern science say?
Astringent and mildly laxative; the three fruits are still combined as triphala in Ayurvedic medicine.
Pharmacognosy & Toxicology
- Constituents
- chebulagic and chebulinic acidsellagitannins, in chebulic myrobalan
- gallic acid ChEMBL
- corilagin ChEMBL
- anthraquinonesin the black myrobalan, the purgative
- Mechanism
- The dried fruits of several Terminalia species and the emblic (Phyllanthus emblica): the tannins astringe and the anthranoids of the unripe black fruit purge, which gave the Arabs a purge “for every humour” from one family. Chebulic myrobalan (haritaki) has broad antimicrobial and antioxidant activity in the laboratory.
- Toxic dose
- Safe at pharmacopoeial doses; large doses purge and the tannins bind iron.
- Syndrome
- The anthranoid purgatives
- Standing
- The three myrobalans make triphala, among the most used Ayurvedic preparations, with small trials for constipation and gum disease; no European monograph.
- Bag, A., et al. (2013). “The development of Terminalia chebula Retz. (Combretaceae) in clinical research.” Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical Biomedicine 3. Verified against its record · doi:10.1016/s2221-1691(13)60059-3
- Peterson, C. T., et al. (2017). “Therapeutic uses of triphala in Ayurvedic medicine.” Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine 23. Verified against its record · doi:10.1089/acm.2017.0083
Constituent names open the compound’s record at PubChem, and “ChEMBL” beside a name opens its record at ChEMBL, the European Bioinformatics Institute’s database of bioactive molecules. Where a mechanism line was checked against ChEMBL (ChEMBL 37, read 1 October 2026), the check is shown with the measured value and its source paper, or says plainly that nothing has been measured. Doses are as the references give them, for description only; this is not medical advice. Each source carries the result of its check against Crossref, PubMed, or the authority’s page: see Verification.
Myrobalans: what lore surrounds it?
Folkard's myrobalan is “a fruit similar to a Cherry, but containing only a juice of so disagreeable a flavour that the very birds refuse to feed upon it: the fruit, however, is much employed in Indian medicines.” He adds a Hindu tradition that “the wife of Somaçarman struck twice with a wand a Myrobalan-tree, whereupon the tree rose from the earth with her, and carrying her away, at last placed her on a golden hill in a golden town.”
In Their Own Words
The 1911 Britannica describes myrobalans as the astringent fruits of several species of Terminalia, used in India for dyeing and tanning, and exported for the same purpose.
“MYROBALANS, the name given to the astringent fruits of several species of Terminalia, largely used used in India for dyeing and tanning and exported for the same purpose.”
Encyclopædia Britannica, eleventh edition: Myrobalans, “Myrobalans”, vol. 19. The 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica, as transcribed on Wikisource. The text, read in full
Culpeper writes that all sorts of myrobalans purge the stomach, the Indian kind melancholy and the others phlegm, warns against using them in stoppings of the bowels, and calls them cold and dry, strengthening heart, brain and sinews.
“All the sorts or Myrobalans, purge the stomach; the Indian Myrobalans, are held to purge melancholy most especially, the other flegm; yet take heed you use them not in stoppings of the bowels: they are cold and dry, they all strengthen the heart, brain, and sinews”
Nicholas Culpeper, M.D., The Complete Herbal … to which are now first annexed, the English Physician Enlarged, and Key to Physic, Dispensatory, “Fruits and their Buds”: Myrobalans. A New Edition. London: Thomas Kelly, 17, Paternoster Row (no year printed); Project Gutenberg eBook #49513. The text, read in part
Each passage is quoted from the text named, which the press fetched and read, and was checked word for word against a fresh copy of it; the link opens that copy. Passages are given as printed, without the editors’ footnote numbers, and with words broken across lines joined.
Used in These Compounds
Myrobalans is an ingredient of 2 compound medicines in the database. For Club members. Create a free account or sign in.
Sources
- Mesue (attributed), Antidotarium. Book, seen in reviews
- Folkard, R. (1884). Plant Lore, Legends, and Lyrics, “Myrobalan.” Project Gutenberg #44638. Primary text
Verification
- Checked
- October 1, 2026
- Passes
- Every sentence read against its sources, in the fifty-entry sample
- The Standing line checked against the authority it names (EMA, WHO, FDA, CITES, Commission E)
- Every dated or regulatory claim checked by category across the database
- Each quotation from the older authorities checked word for word against the text, read in full
- Sources
- 4 cited: 2 verified against its record, 1 primary text, 1 book, seen in reviews.
- Corrections
- None were needed.
What was checked, how, and what was found is set out on the Verification page. A checked source is one whose record was found; it does not make the entry medical advice.
Cite This Entry
Version 1 · first published September 25, 2026 · last revised October 1, 2026
- Chicago
“Myrobalans.” In Materia Medica, edited by B. C. P. Statema. Version 1. The Thinking Press, 2026–. Last modified October 1, 2026. https://thethinkingpress.org/materia-medica/myrobalans.
- MLA
“Myrobalans.” Materia Medica, edited by B. C. P. Statema, version 1, The Thinking Press, 1 Oct. 2026, thethinkingpress.org/materia-medica/myrobalans. Accessed 8 Oct. 2026.
- APA
Myrobalans. (2026, October 1). In B. C. P. Statema (Ed.), Materia medica (Version 1). The Thinking Press. Retrieved October 8, 2026, from https://thethinkingpress.org/materia-medica/myrobalans
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See Also
Poisoned alike: the anthranoid purgatives
Rhubarb · Madder · Yellow dock · Lenitive electuary · Cassia, flower of · Hiera picra · Compound fumitory · Diacatholicon · the syndrome, with all of them →
Sharing gallic acid
Drawing on the same sources: Folkard
Nasturtium, that is, garden cress · Mustard seed · Olive oil and holy water · the bibliography →
Historical description, not medical advice.