Phyllanthus emblica
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Species name: Phyllanthus emblica
Phyllanthus emblica or Indian Gooseberry is a species commonly known for its fruit called Amla. The fruit has one of the highest concentrations of Vitamin C (160 times more than apple) and thus is reputed as a strong antioxidant. Amla finds uses in many medicinal and cosmetic products, especially those for hair such as hair oils and tonics. Amla fruit is used in Indian cooking mainly as pickles or as mouth-freshners. It is also a constituent of the popular Dabur Chawanprash.
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- Species identity and nomenclature
- Current Wikipedia entry
- Binomial Classification
- Morphological features
- Habitat and Geographical Spread
- Maps
- Medicinal Importance
- Cultural significance
- Commercial importance and cultivation
- Summary of PubMed articles
- Summary of NCBI molecular data
- External Links
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| Parameter | Value(s) | References See complete references in the References section at the end |
|---|---|---|
| Names of users who have contributed to this species page | Gauravm | |
| Date on which this page was first created | 2010/10/17 | |
| This page was last modified on: | 19 October 2010 03:36:48 | |
| Name of the species | Phyllanthus emblica | |
| ID on Encyclopedia of Life | ||
| Synonyms | Please check Binomial Classification section for synonyms. | |
| Common English Names | Indian Gooseberry, Amla | |
| Common Hindi Names | आमला Amla | |
| Common Indian names | आँवला Aonla, आमला Amla (Hindi);আমলা Amla (Manipuri);आँवला Amla (Marathi);Nelli (Tamil);Nelli, Nellikka (Malayalam);Usiri, Usirikaya (Telugu);Betta nelli, Amalaka (Kannada);Aonla (Oriya);Ambala (Gujarati);Dhatri, amalaka (Sanskrit) | Flowers of India |
| Origins/Meanings of the common names |
Taxonomy from Encyclopedia of Life
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Taxonomy filled in form
Click here for the PDF of the phylogeny
| Taxon | Value |
|---|---|
| Regnum (Kingdom) | Plantae |
| Division | Magnoliophyta |
| Class | Magnoliopsida |
| Order | Malpighiales |
| Family | Phyllanthaceae |
| Genus | Phyllanthus |
| Source of data | Encyclopedia of Life |
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| Division | Taxon details | Taxon morphology details |
|---|---|---|
| Magnoliophyta | Also called Angiospermae. The ancestors of flowering plants diverged from gymnosperms around 245–202 million years ago, and the first flowering plants known to exist are from 140 million years ago. They diversified enormously during the Lower Cretaceous and became widespread around 100 million years ago, but replaced conifers as the dominant trees only around 60-100 million years ago. | These are seed plants like Gymnosperms, but can be differentiated by the presence of flowers, seeds containing endosperm and seeds that produce a fruit. Angiosperms are the most diverse and highly evolutionarily successful group of land plants. |
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| Class | Taxon details | Taxon morphology details |
|---|---|---|
| Magnoliopsida | Magnoliopsida is the scientific name for dicots. This class contains about ~1,99,350 species of Angiosperms. Eudicots are a subset of Dicots. Based on chloroplast DNA sequences, the divergence date between monocots and dicots is estimated to be ~200 million years, with a 40 million years uncertainty. | Dicots are diverse in habit, with half of all the species being more or less woody-stemmed - a reflection of the usual presence of a vascular cambium in the class. Annuals, biennials, vines, epiphytes, aquatics, parasites, and saprotrophs are also well represented in dicots. Vascular bundles of the stem are usually borne in a ring that encloses the pith. Vessel elements present except in some putatively primitive woody or aquatic families. Most dicots have a primary root system derived from the radicle, although some have an adventitious root system commonly seen in the class of monocots. Cotyledons are usually 2, seldom 1, 3, or 4. Leaves are mostly net-veined. |
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Based on classification
More details can be found in the Binomial Classification section.
Morphology from Encyclopedia of Life
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General morphology
| Parameter | Value(s) | References See complete references in the References section at the end |
|---|---|---|
| General morphological features of the plant | Trees 3-15 m tall, to 50 cm d.b.h., monoecious, deciduous; bark brownish; main stems terete, sparsely lenticellate, with very reduced short shoots producing groups of leafy shoots; leafy shoots angular, tawny pubescent, at start of growing season often with poorly developed leaves and densely flowered, later with fewer flowers and better-developed leaves. Leaves distichous; stipules triangular-ovate, 0.8-1.5 mm, brown, margins entire or denticulate, ciliate; petiole 0.3-0.7 mm; leaf blade oblong or linear-oblong, 8-23 mm long, 1.5-6 mm wide, papery to leathery, paler abaxially, green adaxially, drying reddish or brownish, base shallowly cordate and slightly oblique, margin narrowly revolute, apex truncate, rounded or obtuse, mucronate or retuse at tip; lateral veins 4-7 pairs. Fascicles with many male flowers and sometimes 1 or 2 larger female flowers. Male flowers: pedicels 1-2.5 mm; sepals 6, membranous, yellow, obovate or spatulate, subequal, 1.2-2.5 mm long, 0.5-1 mm wide, apex obtuse or rounded, margin entire or shallowly denticulate; disk glands 6, subtriangular; stamens 3; filaments coherent into column, 0.3-0.7 mm; anthers erect, oblong, 0.5-0.9 mm, longitudinally dehiscent, apex mucronate. Female flowers: pedicels ca. 0.5 mm; sepals 6, oblong or spatulate, 1.6-2.5 mm long, 0.7-1.3 mm wide, apex obtuse or rounded, thicker, margin membranous, ± lobate; ovary ovoid, ca. 1.5 mm, 3-celled; styles 3, 2.5-4 mm, connate at base, deeply bifid, lobes divided at tip. Fruit a drupe, globose, 1-1.3 cm in diameter, exocarp fleshy, pale green or yellowish white, endocarp crustaceous. Seeds reddish, 5-6 mm long, 2-3 mm wide."Trees 3-15 m tall, to 50 cm d.b.h., monoecious, deciduous; bark brownish; main stems terete, sparsely lenticellate, with very reduced short shoots producing groups of leafy shoots; leafy shoots angular, tawny pubescent, at start of growing season often with poorly developed leaves and densely flowered, later with fewer flowers and better-developed leaves. Leaves distichous; stipules triangular-ovate, 0.8-1.5 mm, brown, margins entire or denticulate, ciliate; petiole 0.3-0.7 mm; leaf blade oblong or linear-oblong, 8-23 mm long, 1.5-6 mm wide, papery to leathery, paler abaxially, green adaxially, drying reddish or brownish, base shallowly cordate and slightly oblique, margin narrowly revolute, apex truncate, rounded or obtuse, mucronate or retuse at tip; lateral veins 4-7 pairs. Fascicles with many male flowers and sometimes 1 or 2 larger female flowers. Male flowers: pedicels 1-2.5 mm; sepals 6, membranous, yellow, obovate or spatulate, subequal, 1.2-2.5 mm long, 0.5-1 mm wide, apex obtuse or rounded, margin entire or shallowly denticulate; disk glands 6, subtriangular; stamens 3; filaments coherent into column, 0.3-0.7 mm; anthers erect, oblong, 0.5-0.9 mm, longitudinally dehiscent, apex mucronate. Female flowers: pedicels ca. 0.5 mm; sepals 6, oblong or spatulate, 1.6-2.5 mm long, 0.7-1.3 mm wide, apex obtuse or rounded, thicker, margin membranous, ± lobate; ovary ovoid, ca. 1.5 mm, 3-celled; styles 3, 2.5-4 mm, connate at base, deeply bifid, lobes divided at tip. Fruit a drupe, globose, 1-1.3 cm in diameter, exocarp fleshy, pale green or yellowish white, endocarp crustaceous. Seeds reddish, 5-6 mm long, 2-3 mm wide." cannot be used as a page name in this wiki. | EoL through Plants of Tibet |
| Seed dispersal mechanism | ||
|---|---|---|
| Bloom type | Perennial | |
| Life cycle of the plant | Flowering from April to June; fruiting from July to September. | EoL through Plants of Tibet |
How to identify this species
For a detailed description, refer to the General Morphology details above
| Parameter | Value(s) | References See complete references in the References section at the end |
|---|---|---|
| Type of plant | Woody (Tree/Shrub) | |
| Plant height | More than 10 feet | |
| Flower color | Yellow, Green | |
| Flower shape | ||
| Floral symmetry | Radial | EoL |
| Phyllotaxy of leaves | ||
| Leaf shape | Oblong | |
| Is the leaf petiolated or sessile? | Petiolated | |
| Is the leaf simple or compound? | Simple |
| Parameter | Value(s) | References See complete references in the References section at the end |
|---|---|---|
| IUCN Conservation Status | Not Evaluated | |
| Indian States in which the species has been documented | Assam,Bihar,Delhi,Goa,Gujarat,Haryana,Himachal Pradesh,Jammu and Kashmir,Karnataka,Kerala,Madhya Pradesh,Maharashtra,Manipur,Mizoram,Nagaland,Orissa,Punjab,Tamil Nadu,Tripura,Uttar Pradesh,West Bengal | Sasya Sampada |
| Locations at which the species has been documented | ||
| Biotic zones inhabited | Northeastern Himalayas, Northwestern Himalayas, Eastern Ghats, Western Ghats, Central Deccan Plateau, Indo-Gangetic Plain | Based on Sasya Sampada |
| Details about the habitat | The tree is commonly found in deciduous forests in India, upto 4500ft in the hilly regions. | Himalaya Monographs |
| Is this species native to India? | Yes | |
| Is the species indigenous/endemic to Sub-Himalayan regions? | ||
| Is the species indigenous/endemic to Western Ghats? | ||
| Is the species indigenous/endemic to Eastern Ghats? |
More plants native to India
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If no maps are displayed below, it means the required data is absent. Click on "Edit with form" button on top of the page to add this information.
{{#generateMap:Assam,Bihar,Delhi,Goa,Gujarat,Haryana,Himachal Pradesh,Jammu and Kashmir,Karnataka,Kerala,Madhya Pradesh,Maharashtra,Manipur,Mizoram,Nagaland,Orissa,Punjab,Tamil Nadu,Tripura,Uttar Pradesh,West Bengal|Phyllanthus_emblica_brahma.svg|align=center}}
| Parameter | Value(s) | References See complete references in the References section at the end |
|---|---|---|
| Does this species have any medicinal use? | Yes |
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Other plants of the same family having medicinal use:
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| Parameter | Value(s) | References See complete references in the References section at the end |
|---|---|---|
| General types of ailments this species is used for treating | Infectious diseases, Nutritional deficiencies, Common ailments | |
| Specific ailments for which the species is used | Scurvy, Diuretic, Laxative, Hemorrhage, Diarrhea, Dysentery, Anemia, Jaundice, Dyspepsia, Leukorrhea, Atherosclerosis, Fever, Gastritis | Himalaya |
| Medicinal systems which use this plant | Ayurveda, Unani, Folk Medicine, Modern Medicine | Himalaya |
| Details of Medicinal use | Detailed information with studies noted on the Himalaya Healthcare website.
Fruit is acrid, sour, bitter-sweetish, cooling, alexiteric, carminative, alterative, laxative, tonic and antipyretic. It is useful in burning sensation, vomiting, biliousness, urinary discharges, thirst, leprosy, constipation, inflammations, erysipelas, piles, anaemia, strangury. It is also used in "Kapha", thirst sweats, anuiria, poisoning, "Tridosha", ophthalmia, incipient blindness. Seed is acrid, sweet, aphrodisiac and antipyretic. Seeds are useful in biliousness, asthma, bronchitis, leucorrhoea, vomiting, "vata". Flowers are cooling, aperient, refrigerent. Fruits are useful to improve apetite, heart diseases, liver complaint, cold in nose, stops nasal haemorrhage, purifies humours of the body. Ripe fruit is an astrigent. It has anticancerous property. Root bark is an astringent. Infusion of leaves with fenugreek seeds applied in chronic dysentery, bitter tonic. (Source:Sasya Sampada) |
Himalaya (See References), Sasya Sampada |
| Parts of the plant used for treatment | Root, Leaves, Flower, Fruit, Seeds | Sasya Sampada |
| Names of some medicinal active compounds in this plant, if known. | Ascorbic acid, Tannins, Phyllemblin, Curcuminoids, Linolenic acid | Himalaya |
| Details of the active chemical compounds found in this plant | ||
| Is the molecular basis of the medicinal action known? | Yes | |
| Details of molecular basis of action | The fruit has a high concentration of Vitamin C (160 times more than apple). Vitamin C is an antioxidant and helps in boosting immunity to diseases. | Himalaya |
| Are the toxic effects of consumption of this plant known? | ||
| Details of the toxic effects of the plant species | ||
| Have there been validation/clinical studies related to this plant? | ||
| Details of the clinical studies related to the plant species | Studies in rabbits has shown that administering Vitamin C had higher excretions of cholesterol and phospholipids. The fat content in both serum and tissues reduced significantly. | Himalaya |
| Parameter | Value(s) | References See complete references in the References section at the end |
|---|---|---|
| Is this plant/plant-derived product used in food preparations? | Yes | User-reported |
| Part(s) of the plant used in the food preparations | Fruit, Seeds | |
| Details of use in food preparations | Particularly in South India, the fruit is pickled with salt, oil, and spices. Amla is eaten raw or cooked into various dishes. In Andhra Pradesh tender varieties of amla are used to prepare dal (a lentil preparation), also amle ka murabbah a sweet dish indigenous to the northern part of India (where in the berries are soaked in sugar syrup for a long time till they are imparted the sweet flavor) is traditionally consumed after meals. (Source:Wikipedia)
It is also a constituent of the popular Dabur Chawanprash. |
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| Does this species have any religious significance? | Yes | User-reported |
| Religions which mention/give significance to this species | Hinduism | |
| Religious occasions | ||
| Details of religious use | Significance in worship of Goddess Lakshmi | Wikipedia |
| Parameter | Value(s) | References See complete references in the References section at the end |
|---|---|---|
| Is this plant cultivated commercially in India? | Yes | |
| Uses for which the plant is commercially cultivated | Human consumption, Medicinal use, Cosmetic use, Religious use | |
| Plant parts of commercial value | Fruit | |
| Products where this plant is used | User-reported | |
| Description of use | Popularly used in inks, shampoos and hair oils, the high tannin content of Indian gooseberry fruit serves as a mordant for fixing dyes in fabrics. Amla shampoos and hair oil are traditionally believed to nourish the hair and scalp and prevent premature grey hair. | Wikipedia |
| States where this plant is cultivated commercially | ||
| Best period for planting this plant | Summer | |
| Best period for harvesting this plant | Monsoon, Post-monsoon | |
| Method of propagation | Seeds, Vegetative propagation | |
| Water requirement of this plant | Low | |
| Pests and Diseases affecting this plant during cultivation | ||
| Other considerations while cultivating this plant |
Pubmed Word cloud
This word cloud is obtained using the tool LigerCat by searching the Pubmed database. LigerCat builds the cloud from the most relevant Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) terms. Each term's relative size indicates how many times it appears in the PubMed search results. Click on a term to access the full LigerCat cloud, with live PubMed search capabilities. LigerCat has been developed for the Biology of Aging Project.
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- If there is an error message below, it means that there is no retrievable information available on NCBI
- If the number of nucleotide sequences is less than 100, very little genomic work has been done on this species. A respectable number of nucleotide sequences is above 10000.
- Most of the nucleotide sequences may come from three sources:
- Studies on single genes, where people try to sequence genes such as some specific dehydrogenases important,say, for tannin production
- Sequences of Ribosomal Internal Transcribed Spacer, whose sequence is used for generating molecular phylogenetic trees to establish species relationships
- Expressed Sequence Tags (ESTs) which can tell about which genes are present and expressed in the species at a particular time in the given tissue
{{#queryDB:taxonomy |Phyllanthus emblica }}
| Parameter | Value(s) | References See complete references in the References section at the end |
|---|---|---|
| Details of modern scientific knowledge available for this species | ||
| Are herbarium specimen available for this species? | ||
| Institutes having herbarium samples |
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References
Roy (Journal) : Roy, A.K. et. al (1991),[URL not available Title not available], Int. J.of Pharmacog.:29(2):117-126.. doi={{{doi}}}
Mand (Journal) : Mand, J.K. et. al. (1991),[URL not available Title not available], J. Res. Edu. in Ind.Med.:10(2):1-7. doi={{{doi}}}
Ghosh (Journal) : Ghosh, A. et. al (1993),[URL not available Title not available], Int. J. of Pharmacog.:31(2):116-120. doi={{{doi}}}
Mathur (Journal) : Mathur, R. et. al. (1996),[URL not available Title not available], J. of Ethnopharmacol.:50(2):61-68. doi={{{doi}}}
Singh and Sharma (Journal) : Singh, B.N. and Sharma, P.V., , (1971),[URL not available Title not available], J.Res. Ind. Med.:5({{{issue}}}):223. doi={{{doi}}}
Chawla (Journal) : Chawla et. al. (1982),[Title not available Title not available], Indian J. Med. Res:76(NA):95-98. doi={{{doi}}}
Flowers of India (Web): Flowers of India entry, Accessdate=2010-10-17
EoL, Encyclopedia of Life (Web): Encyclopedia of Life entry, Accessdate=2010-10-17
Himalaya (Web): Monograph on Amla on Himalaya website, Accessdate=2010-10-17
Wikipedia (Web): Wikipedia entry on Phyllanthus emblica, Accessdate=2010-10-17
Sasya Sampada (Web): Sasya Sampada entry on Amla, Accessdate=2010-10-18
