One of the famous myrabolan fruits Terminalia chebula traditionally called as harithaki, well reputed as rasayana in Ayurveda, is the best single herb for controlling Kapha. It is a powerful rejuvenative herb that nourishes the lungs, throat, voice, eyes and hair. Harithaki is h ighly esteemed by the Hindus, and a mythological origin has been assigned to it. It is said that when Indra (king of dieties in Hindu mythology) was drinking nectar in heaven, a drop of the fluid fell on the earth and produced Haritaki. It is one of the constituents of famous preparation "Triphala" which finds use in wide array of areas ranging form hair care, as laxative, in headache, leucorrhoea, liver diseases to gastro-intestinal complaints. The overall tonic effect of this fruit has been known for thousands of years in India and other Asian countries.

Fruits contain astringent substances - tannic acid, chebulinic acid, gallic acid etc. Resin and a purgative principle of the nature of anthraquinones are also present.

The 70% methanolic extract of Terminalia chebula fruit was studied for its effect on growth in several malignant cell lines jncluding human and mouse using assays for proliferation, cell viability and cell death. In all cell lines studies, the extract decreases the cell viability, inhibited cell proliferation, and induced cell death in a dose dependent manner. Flow cytometry and other analyses showed that some apoptosis was induced by the extract at lower concentrations, but at higher concentrations, necrosis was the major mechanism of cell death. Thus the study suggested the inhibition of cancer cell growth property of Terminalia chebula fruit.

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