Botanical Introduction Of Phyllanthus Emblica (Amla)

 

Amla was very useful in daily life for our elders. Keeping in mind the qualities of Amla, they used to consume Amla daily through Amla Kadhi, Amla Pickle, Green Chilli and Amla Longee, Amla Chutney etc. Our elders used to collect the green Amlas by boiling them, removing the seeds and drying them so that they could be used even in the season when they are unavailable. Even today, the use of Amla is seen in many houses to improve the taste of the mouth after meals by sprinkling black salt and black pepper powder on Amla.

Botanical name: Phyllanthus Emblelica

Family: Euphorbiaceae

Names of Amla in different languages

• Latin - Emblica Officinalis
• Sanskrit - Amalaki, Dhatri
• Bengali - Amalaki, Amla
• Marathi and Gujarati - Amla
• Tamil - Nellikai
• Telugu - Ushirikai
• Kannada / Malayalam - Nelli
• Sinhala - Nelli
• Persian - Amlaj, Aamal
• French - Phyllanthe Emblic
• English - Emblic Myrobalan - Emblica Officinalis - Indian Gooseberry

Amla tree is up to 20-25 feet tall. This tree is found everywhere in India up to a height of 4500 feet.

Types - There are two types of Amla-

1. Wild Amla: It is also called wild Amla. Wild Amlas grow naturally. The fruits that grow in it are small, hard, fibrous, have little pulp and their seeds are large. In the Ayurvedic Nighantu texts, these wild Amlas have been called by special names like 'Kashth-dhatri', 'Kshudra Amalaka' etc.

2. Gramya Amla: These are also called garden Amla. These Amlas grow in gardens. Two types of Amlas are planted in gardens too- (1) Biju Amla It grows from seeds and the fruits of these Amlas are small. (2) Grafted Amla-These are planted by grafting, hence called 'grafted'.

The fruits of grafted Amla are very large. These are called by the names Rai Amla, Shahi Amla, Amalju-Maluk. These are called Banarasi (Kashi) Amla. These Banarasi grafted Amlas are very pulpy, fiberless and have very small seeds and are as thick as 'guava'.

Amla leaves are like tamarind leaves. It has yellow flowers in bunches. Amla fruit is round, fleshy, yellow-green in colour. There are six lines on its outer surface. Inside there is a hexagonal seed. Flowers are obtained from February to May and fruits from October to April. After autumn, new leaves appear in it during March to April.