What is Habb-ul-Aas?

Habb-ul-Aas is the dried berry of the myrtle shrub, Myrtus communis. It is a single drug in Persian and Unani medicine. It is also sold as myrtle berry.

Healers have used it mostly for loose stools, sore mouth and gums, and piles. It is also a long-standing hair care remedy.

You can take it as a powder. It can also be a decoction, a drink made by simmering the berries.

The berry is used on the skin and as a gargle too. Sitz baths and hair oils are two more uses. Unani texts class myrtle as a drying, tissue-tightening (astringent) drug.

The honest verdict: the record of old use is long and steady. But modern human testing of the berry itself is very thin.

Long use is not proof that a remedy works. Nothing here should replace the treatment your doctor has advised.

How does Habb-ul-Aas work?

The most likely reason is simple tissue-tightening. Myrtle berries are rich in tannins, a group of plant compounds. Tannins bind to the skin and make it contract.

They do the same to mucous membranes, the moist linings of the mouth, gut and other passages. That tightening may cut weeping, oozing and fluid loss. This fits the old use for loose stools, sore gums and piles.

Lab tests point to more. Myrtle extracts and myrtle oil can slow the growth of some bacteria and fungi in lab dishes.

We do not know if this happens at the amounts a person swallows or applies. No one has shown it in people. Treat all of this as a likely idea, not a proven mechanism.

What forms does Habb-ul-Aas come in?

Common forms are:

Dried whole berries, used to make a decoction (simmered water drink).

Berry powder (sufoof), taken by mouth or dusted on skin.

Decoction used as a mouth rinse, gargle, wash or sitz bath (sitting in shallow warm water).

Myrtle oil for the hair and scalp, usually the berries or leaves infused into a base oil such as sesame or coconut.

Myrtle essential oil, a strong distilled oil for external use only.

Compound Unani preparations that list Habb-ul-Aas among several ingredients.

Where it comes from:

Myrtle is one of the oldest known healing plants of the Mediterranean and the Near East.

The Greek writer Dioscorides wrote about myrtle berries in the first century. He used them for loose bowels and bleeding. Arabic and Persian doctors carried that use forward under the name Aas.

In Unani practice the berry became a standard drying and tissue-tightening drug. The hair-oil use is still common across Iran, Pakistan and India.

Myrtle also turns up in European and North African folk medicine. In Sardinia and Corsica, people eat the berries and make them into liqueur.

What does Habb-ul-Aas help with?

• Diarrhoea and loose stools: This is the classic Unani use, and the tannin content gives it a sensible rationale. Tannins tighten the gut lining, which may firm up stools. We found no published human trial of myrtle berry for diarrhoea. Rehydration matters far more than any herb, so keep drinking fluids.
• Mouth ulcers and sore, bleeding gums: Used traditionally as a rinse or gargle made from the decoction. Small Iranian studies have looked at myrtle-based mouth pastes and gels for aphthous ulcers (common mouth ulcers), with some reported reduction in pain. These were small, and they tested made-up gel products, not the plain berry. Call this promising but unproven.
• Sore throat: A traditional gargle use, based on the same tightening and drying action. There is no human trial evidence for the berry used this way. A sore throat with high fever, a rash, or trouble swallowing or breathing needs a doctor, not a gargle.
• Piles (haemorrhoids): Traditionally used as a sitz bath or an ointment for the discomfort and oozing of piles. A few small Iranian trials have tested topical myrtle preparations for piles and anal fissure (a tear in the skin of the back passage), with modest reported benefit. The studies were small and not well replicated. Bleeding from the back passage should always be checked by a doctor first.
• Hair fall and dandruff: One of the most popular everyday uses across Iran, Pakistan and India, applied as an infused scalp oil. This rests entirely on tradition and user reports. No controlled human trial supports myrtle berry oil for hair growth or dandruff.
• Minor wounds and weeping skin: The powder or decoction has long been applied to grazes and damp, irritated skin to dry them. Laboratory work shows myrtle extracts can slow some bacteria in a dish. That is not proof it prevents or treats a skin infection in a person. Deep, dirty or spreading wounds need medical care.
• Vaginal discharge: Unani texts recommend a myrtle decoction wash for discharge. Discharge has many causes, including infections that need specific treatment. There is no reliable human evidence here, and self-treating can delay the right diagnosis. See a clinician for new, smelly or itchy discharge.
• Cough and chest congestion: Myrtle's volatile oil contains 1,8-cineole, the same compound used in some European cough products made from distilled myrtle oil. Those products are a different preparation from the dried berry. Evidence for the berry itself in coughs is absent. Do not assume trial results for a distilled oil product apply to a berry decoction.

Which foods are rich in Habb-ul-Aas?

1. Fresh and dried myrtle berries: eaten as a fruit and dried as a spice around the Mediterranean
2. Mirto liqueur: a Sardinian and Corsican drink made by steeping myrtle berries in alcohol
3. Myrtle berry jam and preserves: traditional in parts of Italy, Greece and North Africa

Practical Tips:

Culinary amounts of the berry are small and are treated as food, not as a remedy.

What are the side effects of Habb-ul-Aas?

• Nausea or stomach upset, especially on an empty stomach
• Constipation if taken for too long
• Dry, puckering feeling in the mouth
• Reduced absorption of iron from food and supplements
• Skin rash or irritation where the oil or powder is applied
• Allergic reaction in people sensitive to myrtle or related plants
• Headache or dizziness reported with strong myrtle oil products
• Possible drop in blood sugar

Good to know:

Used as a short course of berry decoction or powder, side effects are usually mild and settle when you stop. The bigger risks belong to the concentrated essential oil, not the berry.

Myrtle essential oil can trigger a sudden spasm of the voice box or breathing passages in babies and young children, and swallowing it can be dangerous. Stop everything and seek help if breathing becomes difficult, the face or lips swell, or a rash spreads.

How much Habb-ul-Aas should you take?

• Recommended daily: No safe and effective dose has been set by modern research. What follows is traditional practice only. Unani sources commonly use about 3 to 5 grams of berry powder a day, or 5 to 10 grams of dried berries simmered in water to make a decoction, split into two doses. For mouth, throat or sitz-bath use, the cooled decoction is used externally and not swallowed. Myrtle essential oil is for external use only and is always diluted first in a carrier oil.
• Best time of day: Traditionally taken in two doses, morning and evening. Scalp oil is usually applied at night and washed out the next morning. Mouth rinses are used after meals and at bedtime.
• With or without food: Take the powder or decoction after food. Tannins can feel harsh on an empty stomach and may cause nausea.
• Time to effect: For loose stools, tradition expects a change within a day or two. For mouth or gum soreness, users often report relief within a few days of rinsing. Hair and scalp use, if it does anything, would take weeks. None of these timings has been confirmed in a trial.
• How long to take it: Keep it short. For loose stools, traditional use is a few days at most; if diarrhoea has not settled in 48 hours, stop and get medical advice. For mouth rinses or scalp oil, one to two weeks is a reasonable trial. If nothing has changed by then, it is unlikely to. There is no safety data for continuous long-term use, so do not take it by mouth for months on end.