Amla (aka. Indian Gooseberry, Emblic; Emblica officinalis, syn. Phyllanthes emblica) is a small to medium sized tree from East Asia, growing to about 26 feet in height and producing simple close-set leaves along their branches.
The Amla fruit is a light greenish-yellow and sour, bitter, astringent and fibrous in taste. Despite this, it has been long valued for both food and medicine!
Amla is often steeped in salt water with chili powder to make them more palatable, or they are eaten raw or cooked in a number of dishes.
Other common presentations for Amla fruit are pickled with salt, oil and spices, or soaked in sugar syrup to make a candied treat.
The fruits are a very high source of Vitamin C, giving the sourness of the fruit, with a high density of ellagitannins, giving it bitterness as well.
The plant is useful in Agroforestry for cutting the branches as a green manure, as well as in reforestation projects, as they are a fast-growing pioneer species that can attract wildlife.
Many parts of the plant are also used as a source of tannins, the leaves used as a dye, and the fruits to produce a black ink and hair dye. It is also used in shampoos and hair care products.
Amla is popular in the traditional medicine of several regions, such as in India, China and Malaysia for thousands of years. In Ayurveda Amla is considered to be balancing to all three doshas, despite its very sour taste. It is also thought to promote digestion and be a rasayana herb as well, having rejuvenating and nourishing properties for the whole body. It is also one of the three herbs in the famous Ayurvedic formula, Triphala.
Through scientific investigation, Amla has been found to exhibit numerous activities, including antioxidant, blood sugar balance, immunomodulatory, hepatoprotective, chemoprotective, cytokine balance, cardioprotective, anti-aging, and blood lipid balance.
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*This content is for informational and educational purposes only. It is not intended to provide medical advice or to take the place of such advice or treatment from a personal physician.