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{{Short description|Berry and plant}}
{{For|other plants called gooseberry|List of gooseberries}}
{{speciesbox
|image = Phyllanthus_officinalis.jpg
|image_caption = Plant
|image2 = Phyllanthus emblica BNC.jpg
|image2_caption = Fruit
|status = LC
|status_system = IUCN3.1
|status_ref = <ref name="iucn status 19 November 2021">{{cite iucn |author=Roland, C. |date=2020 |title=''Phyllanthus emblica'' |volume=2020 |page=e.T149444430A149548926 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-3.RLTS.T149444430A149548926.en |access-date=19 November 2021}}</ref>
|genus = Phyllanthus
|species = emblica
|authority = [[Carl Linnaeus|L.]]<ref name=GRIN>{{GRIN | access-date=2008-03-06}}</ref>
|synonyms =
{{Plainlist | style = margin-left: 1em; text-indent: -1em; |
*''Cicca emblica'' (L.) Kurz
*''Diasperus emblica'' (L.) Kuntze
*''Dichelactina nodicaulis'' Hance
*''Emblica arborea'' Raf.
*''Emblica officinalis'' Gaertn.
*''Phyllanthus glomeratus'' Roxb. ex Wall. nom. inval.
*''Phyllanthus mairei'' H.Lév.
*''Phyllanthus mimosifolius'' Salisb.
*''Phyllanthus taxifolius'' D.Don
}}
|synonyms_ref = <ref name="WFO">{{cite web |url=http://www.worldfloraonline.org/taxon/wfo-0000270932 |title=''Phyllanthus emblica'' L. |date=2023 |website=World Flora Online |publisher=World Flora Consortium |access-date=25 April 2023 |archive-date=20 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230520151555/http://www.worldfloraonline.org/taxon/wfo-0000270932 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="POWO">{{Cite web |title=''Phyllanthus emblica'' L. |url=http://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:353838-1 |website=Plants of the World Online |language=en |publisher=Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew |access-date=30 June 2022 |archive-date=1 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220601185702/https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:353838-1 |url-status=live }}</ref>

}}

'''''Phyllanthus emblica''''', also known as '''emblic''',<ref name=GRIN/><ref name=Lim>{{cite book|author=Lim, T.K. |date=2012 |title= Edible Medicinal And Non-Medicinal Plants |url=https://archive.org/details/ediblemedicinaln00limt_997 |url-access=limited |chapter=''Phyllanthus emblica'' |publisher=Springer Netherlands |pages= [https://archive.org/details/ediblemedicinaln00limt_997/page/n272 258]–296 |doi=10.1007/978-94-007-4053-2_37 |isbn=9789400740525 }}</ref> '''emblic myrobalan''',<ref name=GRIN/> '''myrobalan''',<ref name=Lim/> '''Indian gooseberry''',<ref name=GRIN/><ref name=Lim/> '''Malacca tree''',<ref name=Lim/> or '''amla''',<ref name=Lim/> from the Sanskrit आमलकी ('''āmalakī'''), is a [[deciduous]] tree of the family [[Phyllanthaceae]]. Its native range is tropical and [[South Asia|southern Asia]].<ref name="POWO"/>

== Description ==
[[File:Indian gooseberry (Phyllanthus emblica syn Emblica officinalis) at Jayanti, Duars, West Bengal W Picture 045.jpg|thumb|left|Budding and flowers]]
===Plant morphology===
[[File:Phyllanthus emblica - whole and cross section.jpg|thumb|left|Phyllanthus emblica - whole and cross section]]
The tree is small to medium in size, reaching {{convert|1-8|m|abbr=on}} in height. The branchlets are finely pubescent (not [[Glabrousness|glabrous]]), {{convert|10–20|cm|abbr=on}} long, usually deciduous. The leaves are simple, [[Sessility (botany)|subsessile]] and closely set along branchlets, light green, resembling [[Pinnation|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 {{convert|26|mm|abbr=on}} in diameter, and, while the fruit of wild plants weigh approximately {{convert|5.5|g|abbr=on}}, cultivated fruits average {{convert|28.4|g|abbr=on}} to {{convert|56|g|abbr=on}}<ref>Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992 ISBN 0-333-47494-5</ref>

===Chemical constituents===
These fruits contain high amounts of [[ascorbic acid]] (vitamin C),<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Tarwadi K, Agte V |title=Antioxidant and micronutrient potential of common fruits available in the Indian subcontinent |journal=Int J Food Sci Nutr |volume=58 |issue=5 |pages=341–9 |date=Aug 2007 |pmid=17558726 |doi=10.1080/09637480701243905 |s2cid=7663752 }}</ref> and have a [[bitter (taste)|bitter taste]] that may derive from a high density of [[ellagitannin]]s,<ref name=dharm>{{cite web|author=Dharmananda S|title=''Emblic myrobalans'' (Amla)|publisher=Institute of Traditional Medicine|url=http://www.itmonline.org/arts/amla.htm|date=September 2003|access-date=2006-02-07|archive-date=2005-09-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050901135329/http://www.itmonline.org/arts/amla.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> such as [[emblicanin]] A (37%), emblicanin B (33%), [[punigluconin]] (12%), and [[pedunculagin]] (14%).<ref>{{Cite journal
| last1 = Bhattacharya | first1 = A.
| last2 = Chatterjee | first2 = A.
| last3 = Ghosal | first3 = S.
| last4 = Bhattacharya | first4 = S. K.
| title = Antioxidant activity of active tannoid principles of Emblica officinalis (amla)
| journal = Indian Journal of Experimental Biology
| volume = 37
| issue = 7
| pages = 676–680
| year = 1999
| pmid = 10522157
}}</ref> Amla also contains [[punicafolin]] and phyllanemblinin A, phyllanemblin other [[polyphenol]]s, such as [[flavonoid]]s, [[kaempferol]], [[ellagic acid]], and [[gallic acid]].<ref name=dharm/><ref>{{cite journal |author1=Habib-ur-Rehman |author2=Yasin KA |author3=Choudhary MA |title=Studies on the chemical constituents of Phyllanthus emblica |journal=Nat. Prod. Res. |volume=21 |issue=9 |pages=775–81 |date=Jul 2007 |pmid=17763100 |doi=10.1080/14786410601124664 |s2cid=30716746 |display-authors=etal}}</ref>

== Traditional uses ==
Ripening in autumn, the berries are harvested by hand after climbing to upper branches bearing the fruits. The taste of Indian emblic is sour, bitter and astringent, and it is quite fibrous.

===Culinary use===
[[File:Indian gooseberry pickle.png|thumb|Indian gooseberry pickle]]
The amla fruit is eaten raw or cooked into various dishes, such as ''[[dal]]'' (a lentil preparation) and ''amle ka murabbah'', a sweet dish made by soaking the berries in sugar syrup until they are candied. It is traditionally consumed after meals.{{cn|date=October 2020}}

In the [[Batak]] area of [[Sumatra]], Indonesia, the inner bark is used to impart an astringent, bitter taste to the broth of a traditional fish soup known as ''holat''.<ref>{{cite book|last1=de Clercq|first1=F. S. A.|title=Nieuw Plantkundig Woordenboek voor Nederlandsch Indië|url=https://archive.org/details/nieuwplantkundig00cler|date=1909|publisher=J. H. de Bussy|location=Amsterdam|page=[https://archive.org/details/nieuwplantkundig00cler/page/303 303]}}</ref>

===Traditional medicine===
In [[Ayurveda]], dried and fresh fruits of the plant are used as a common constituent.<ref name=dharm/><ref>Indian Ministry of Health and Family Planning. The Ayurvedic Formulary of India. Part I. 1st ed. Delhi, 1978.</ref>

==Buddhist symbolism==
In the Buddhist tradition there are many references to the fruit of the emblic myrobalan. In the {{Transliteration|sa|Śatapañcāśatka}}, Buddha’s knowledge is described in a poetic simile: “O Bhagavan, the entire origination of all types of phenomena throughout time is within the range of your mind, like an ambalan fruit in the palm of your hand”.<ref>Chen, K. (1952). The Śatapañcāśatka of Mātrceta: Sanskrit Text, Tibetan translation and commentary, and Chinese translation. Edited by D. R. Shackleton Bailey, with an introduction, English translation and notes. Cambridge: The University Press, 1951. xi, 237 p. The Far Eastern Quarterly, 11(3), 408-410. {{doi|10.2307/2049590}}.</ref>

Half an amla fruit was the final gift to the Buddhist ''[[sangha]]'' by the great Indian emperor [[Ashoka]]. This is illustrated in the [[Ashokavadana]] in the following verses: "A great donor, the lord of men, the eminent Maurya Ashoka, has gone from being lord of Jambudvipa [the continent] to being lord of half a myrobalan".<ref>[[John S. Strong|Strong, J. S.]] (1983) ''The Legend of King Ashoka''. New York: Princeton University Press. p. 99.</ref> In [[Theravada Buddhism]], this plant is said to have been used as the tree for achieving enlightenment, or [[Bodhi]], by the twenty first [[Buddha]], named [[Phussa Buddha]].<ref>[https://archive.org/details/cu31924093743619  Buddha: His Life, His Teachings, His Order: Together with the History of the Buddhism, Manmatha Nath Dutt, Society for the resuscitation of Indian literature, 1901, p. 3]</ref>

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:Lingaraj Temple, Bhubaneswar (4) - Oct 2010.jpg|[[Amalaka|Amla]] at the top of the [[Lingaraj temple]] in [[Bhubaneswar]]
File:Buddha statue holding a myrobalan.jpg|Hand of a standing [[Buddha statue]] holding a myrobalan
File:油甘果種子.jpg|Seed
File:油甘果實.jpg|Fruits
File:Indian gooseberry (Phyllanthus emblica syn Emblica officinalis) new leaves at Jayanti, Duars, West Bengal W Picture 039.jpg|Leaves
File:Indian gooseberry bark.jpg|Trunk and main branches, highlighting mottled bark
File:Amla juice.jpg|Amla juice
Amala in Madhya Pradesh 2.jpg|Amala in [[Bhopal]] Madhya Pradesh
Amala in Madhya Pradesh 4.jpg|Amala Size comparison

</gallery>

==See also==
* [[Emblicanin]]
* [[Triphala]], an Ayurvedic mixture containing amla

==References==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
*

{{Taxonbar|from=Q310050}}

[[Category:Phyllanthus|emblica]]
[[Category:Berries]]
[[Category:Flora of China]]
[[Category:Flora of tropical Asia]]
[[Category:Indian spices]]
[[Category:Plants described in 1753]]
[[Category:Spices]]
[[Category:Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus]]
[[Category:Trees in Buddhism]]

Phyllanthus emblica - Revision history

Ajay Kumar: Created a new article