Bail Matum

The fruits of this tree have medicinal properties and are a medicine in the countries of Southeast Asia. They are very useful, maybe that is why they are used in Buddhist religious cult offerings to the gods. Baile leaves, growing in three on the handle, resembling the trident of the god Shiva, are used in Shaivism to shower the Shivalingam.

Short description

• Place of growth in the wild: Indochina, Pakistan, India.
• Origin: a species of the genus Aegle of the Rutaceae family.
• Life form: deciduous tree with fruits.
• Fruit: oblong or round, five to twenty centimeters in diameter, yellow with light orange sweet pulp.
• Leaves: green, four to ten centimeters long and two to five centimeters wide, arranged three on one petiole.
• Care: unpretentious, survives where other plants cannot grow.

Distributing baile

Bail is not cultivated in Russia. Here it can sometimes be found in greenhouses, winter gardens and among indoor plants of amateur flower growers. It grows up to three meters in height, is unpretentious in maintenance, needs good lighting and regular watering.

In India, Malaysia, Indonesia and other countries, this tree is grown for fruit. It can reach twelve to fifteen meters in height. Unripe fruits are green with a hard crust, but there are also dessert varieties in which the crust is not so hard. When the fruit is ripe, it turns yellow, a bit like a pear. The pulp of the fruit smells like a rose.

The inside of the fruit contains the core and eight to twenty triangular segments with orange walls, filled with light orange pasty pulp, sweet in taste with a slight astringent aftertaste. There are cultivars of baile that contain almost no seeds, without a sharp astringent taste.

Bail flowers are green-yellow with many yellow stamens, bloom along the entire length of the branches. Flowers are located in bunches of up to seven pieces. They are very aromatic.

Bail seeds in the pulp are elongated, flat with hairs. When planting seeds, a baile tree can be grown.

Using bail in cooking

The fruits are eaten fresh or dried. Baile has other names that characterize its features. The stone apple is called baile due to the very hard shell of the fruit, which can only be broken with a hammer. Egle marmalade, thanks to the astringent substances contained in the fruit. Bail is used to make marmalade.

Fresh fruits contain many nutrients and vitamins. In the countries of Southeast Asia, a delicious drink is prepared from ripe fruits, which is called sharbat. Salads are made from tender, young leaves and seeds of bail in Thailand.

Medicinal properties of fruits

For medicinal purposes, both mature and green fruits of baile are used. Unripe fruits are used for digestive disorders and stomach diseases as an astringent, anti-inflammatory agent that helps against diarrhea and even dysentery. Ripe pulp, on the other hand, is used as a laxative, improves digestion and increases appetite.

Bail is used to treat scurvy. Vitamin tea is made, which is a good anti-cold remedy.The pulp of the fruit is used in the countries of southern Asia instead of soap for washing, it has a cleansing and healing effect. The substance psoralen, contained in the pulp, promotes skin regeneration, has a healing effect on psoriasis and protects the skin from sunburn.