Amla Tree

Amla Tree:

Botanical name: Phyllanthus emblica

                  Phyllanthus emblica, also known as emblic, emblic myrobalan, myrobalan, Indian gooseberry, Malacca tree, or amla, from the Sanskrit आमलकी (āmalakī), is a deciduous tree of the family Phyllanthaceae. Its native range is tropical and southern Asia.

Description

              The tree is small to medium in size, reaching 1–8 metres (3+1⁄2–26 feet) in height. The bark is mottled. The branchlets are finely pubescent (not glabrous), 10–20 centimetres (4–8 inches) long, usually deciduous. The leaves are simple, subsessile and closely set along branchlets, light green, resembling pinnate leaves. The flowers are greenish–yellow. The fruit is nearly spherical, light greenish–yellow, quite smooth and hard on appearance, with six vertical stripes or furrows. The fruit is up to 26 millimetres (1 in) in diameter, and, while the fruit of wild plants weigh approximately 5.5 grams (0.2 ounces), cultivated fruits average 28.4 g (1 oz) to 56 g (2 oz)

Chemical constituents

                The fruits contain high amounts of ascorbic acid (vitamin C), and have a bitter taste that may derive from a high density of ellagitannins,[8] such as emblicanin A (37%), emblicanin B (33%), punigluconin (12%), and pedunculagin (14%).[9] Amla also contains punicafolin and phyllanemblinin A, phyllanemblin other polyphenols, such as flavonoids, kaempferol, ellagic acid, and gallic acid.