Background: Tri-sa-maw recipe is comprised of equal proportions of three herbal fruits, including Terminalia chebula Retz., Terminalia sp. and Terminalia bellirica Roxb. The traditional use of this recipe has been reported as a medication for fever, expectorant, relief of tightness in the stomach, laxative and antidiarrheal agent.
Objective: To study the effects of Tri-sa-maw recipe extract on gastrointestinal tract in both in vitro and in vivo.
Material and Method: Gastrointestinal effect of Tri-sa-maw recipe was studied by using two in vivo models (gastric emptying, gastrointestinal transit) and in vitro isolated guinea pig ileum experiment.
Results: Tri-sa-maw recipe showed both stimulatory and inhibitory effects on the stomach function. Not only did the extract at the dose of 1,000 mg/kg inhibit the gastric emptying time, but also stimulate the movement of the digestive tract by increasing the mobility of charcoal. In the isolated guinea pig ileum experiment, the extract at low concentration (0.1 ng/mL) induced the contraction of isolated guinea pig ileum. However, the stimulation effect on contractions of isolated guinea pig ileum was very much decreased at the high concentration (0.2-1 ng/mL) of the extract.
Conclusion: The findings of this study support to traditional uses of Tri-sa-maw recipe as a laxative and antidiarrheal agent.

Keywords: Tri-sa-maw recipe, Gastric emptying, Intestinal transit