Scientific Name Phyllanthus emblica Linn. ( E. officinalis Gaertn. syn.Phyllanthus emblica Linn.)
Family Euphorbiaceae
Used Part Fruit rind.
Distribution Area The tree is common in the mixed deciduous forests of India ascending to 4,500 ft. on the hills.
Common Uses . Amla fruit has been held in high esteem in indigenous medicine. It is acrid, cooling, refrigerant, diuretic and laxative. The raw fruit is eaten as an aperient. Dried fruit is useful in haemorrhage, diarrhoea and dysentery. In ombination with iron, it is used as a remedy for anaemia, jaundice and dyspepsia. A fermented liquor prepared from the fruit is used in jaundice, dyspepsia and cough. Emblic myrobalan is used
in many compound preparations. Acute bacillary dysentery may be arrested by drinking a sherbet of amla with lemon juice. Triphala, consisting of equal parts of powdered emblic myrobalan, chebulic myrobalan (Terminalia chebula Retz.) and belleric myrobalan (T. bellerica Roxb.) is used as a laxative and in headache, biliousness, dyspepsia, constipation, piles, enlarged liver and ascites. The exudation from incisions on the fruit is used as an external application for inflammation of the eye. The flowers are cooling, refrigerant and aperient. The root and bark are astringent.
The seeds are used in the treatment of asthma, bronchitis and biliousness.
The amla fruits are widely used in the preparation of popular Indian traditional health tonics like `Chyavan Prash' and `Triphala'. The dried fruits are also used as an ingediant in the ayurvedic preparations `Kanchnar Guggulu' and `Triphala Guggulu' which are used in the management of various glandular swellings and weight reduction (antiobesity) respectively. Amla is one of the constituents of ayurvedic medicine `Mentat', which is used in various behavioural problems of children like nocturnal enuresis, pica and breath holding spells with improvement in school phobia, learning disability and speech defects without any toxic or untoward effects. It also used as one of the ingredients in herbal cough syrup `Koflet'.
Amla fruits are anabolic, anti-bacterial and resistance building. They possess expectorant, cardiotonic, antipyretic, antioxidative, antiviral and anti-emetic activities.
It is an important ingredient of Unani drugs `Majoon-e-fanjnosh', `Majoon-e-flasfa' and which increase haemoglobin and have hepatotonic, aphrodisiac, retentive and diuretic actions. They are also effective in anorexeia.
