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Ethnopharmacological relevance Terminalia bellerica Roxb. fruits are rich in a variety of biologically active ingredients. Tharu and Buksa tribes of Udham Singh Nagar, Uttarakhand, India use grilled fruits of Terminalia bellerica as an effective cure for diarrhea Aim of the study We validated the ethnobotanical claim by comparing the antidiarrheal effect of grilled fruits (GF) with dried fruits (DF). Materials and methods The 50% ethanolic extracts of GF and DF were successively fractionated; the antioxidant and bacterial inhibition activity were studied using DPPH free radical scavenging, anti-lipid peroxidation and broth dilution method respectively. Difference in metabolites of ethyl acetate fractions of GF and DF was analyzed using GC-MS, gallic acid content was determined through HPTLC. Further the in-vivo antidiarrheal effect of ethyl acetate fractions of DF and GF was studied on castor oil induced diarrhea model. Results The ethyl acetate fractions showed potential DPPH free radical scavenging (IC 50 11.13 µg/ml in DF and 8.56 µg/ml in GF), anti-lipid peroxidation and antibacterial activity. The non-targeted metabolic profiling showed higher content of tartaric acid, valeric acid, gallic acid, succinic acid, oxalic acid, malonic acid, malic acid, 1,2,3 trisbenzene, uridine and 11-eicosenoic acid in GF. The HPTLC results indicated that gallic acid content was 2.8 (±0.14) and 4.92 (±0.28) mg/g while ellagic acid content was 4.7 (±0.32) and 4.45 (±0.45) mg/g dry powder in DF and GF respectively. According to i n vivo antidiarrheal activity DF and GF (100 mg/kg oral) inhibited diarrhea by 41.87% and 71.72% respectively. Conclusion Grilling significantly altered the levels of metabolites in T. bellerica fruits which could be responsible for its increased therapeutic potential. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]