Terminalia chebula in eye drops

Terminalia chebula is a tree in the Combretaceae family, native to parts of South and Southeast Asia and southern China, according to the US Department of Agriculture’s GRIN plant database. Its English names include black myrobalan and chebulic myrobalan. Quell lists it among 10 inactive ingredients, with the species name printed “Chubula.” The label makes no claim for it on its own.

What is Terminalia chebula?

The USDA’s Germplasm Resources Information Network, run by the Agricultural Research Service, keeps a taxonomy record for the species. It gives the accepted name as Terminalia chebula Retz., the abbreviation crediting the botanist Anders Retzius, who published the name in the late eighteenth century. Terminalia is a large genus of trees and shrubs, and its family, Combretaceae, is found mostly in warm regions.

GRIN lists the species as native to Yunnan in China; to Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal and Sri Lanka on the Indian subcontinent; and to Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam in Indochina. It also records it as naturalized in some places outside that range.

Its other names

• Black myrobalan and chebulic myrobalan, in English.
• Haritaki and harra, names GRIN records from India.
• Myrobalan chébule in French, and chebulische Myrobalane in German.
• Mirobalanos índicos in Spanish.

The fruit is the part of the plant people most often mean when they use these names. It has a long history of traditional use in its native region. We mention that only as background; Quell’s label makes no health claim for it, and neither do we.

Why the label says “Chubula”

Scientific plant names are standardized, and GRIN spells this one chebula, with an e. Quell’s label prints it with a u, as part of this list: Caprylyl Glycol, Dead Sea Salt (Sodium Chloride), Emu Oil, Glyceryl Laurate, Glyceryl Undecylenate, Manuka Honey, Polaxamer 188, Sterile Water, Terminalia Chubula and Tromethamine. Read in context, it’s clearly the same plant. We render the label exactly as printed rather than correcting it, because the Drug Facts wording on this site comes straight from the carton. If you search for the ingredient, use the standard spelling; you’ll find far more.

What it does in Quell, according to the label

Nothing specific is stated. Drug Facts panels follow a fixed FDA format. The active ingredients are the ones tied to the product’s uses; in Quell’s case, Glycerol (1.0%), Polysorbate 80 (1.0%) and Light Mineral Oil (0.5%), and the Uses line reads: For use as a protectant against further irritation or to relieve dryness of the eye. Inactive ingredients are named but not explained, and they’re listed alphabetically under 21 CFR 201.66, which is why Terminalia sits near the end, after sterile water and before tromethamine.

More broadly, Quell is designed to reinforce the tear film’s oil layer to help reduce moisture loss, and its makers include several natural ingredients alongside the actives. Terminalia chebula is the one from a tree fruit; others come from a bird, bees and the sea. The natural ingredients in Quell walks through them together.

A plant ingredient in a sterile drop

An herb on a shelf and an ingredient inside a sterile eye product aren’t the same thing. Whatever form of a plant goes into a drug is made and handled under drug manufacturing rules. That’s why it matters that the bottle arrives sealed and is used as directed (Apply 1 drop 3 times per day in each eye), and why the label’s tip warning applies to every use: Do not touch tip of bottle to any surface to avoid contamination. Never put herbal powders, teas or home preparations into your eyes.

If you take it as a supplement

Haritaki is sold in some places as a dietary supplement or as part of herbal blends. Eye drops aren’t taken by mouth, and the label’s instruction on that point is: If swallowed, get medical help or contact a Poison Control Center immediately. If you use supplements or herbal products and have questions about combining anything with eye drops, a pharmacist is the right person to ask. Bring the bottle so they can read the panel themselves.

Checking for sensitivities

• Read the full inactive list if you’ve reacted to plant products before.
• Note the label’s caution, which is about a different ingredient: Caution should be used in those with egg or bird allergies — For use in the eyes only.
• Stop and call a doctor if your eyes hurt or your vision changes after any new drop.

The complete label is on our Drug Facts page, and the inactive ingredients section explains how that part of any eye drop panel is laid out.