Embelin, 2,5-dihydroxy-3-undecyl-1,4-benzoquinone a plant substance extracted from the plant Embelier libes, distributed in the Kerala State of India, is useful as a battery cathode material. In the present study embelin is used as a cathode in a zinc based secondary battery using ZnCl2-NH4Cl electrolyte. The battery performance is discussed in the light of cycle life of the cell under conditions of varied electrolyte composition, operational temperature and zeolite modification.