AMALAKI(Fresh Fruit)
Amalaki consists of fresh fruit pulp of Emblica officinalis Gaertn. (Fam.Euphorbiaceae); a small or medium sized tree, found in mixed deciduous forests, ascending to 1300 m on hills and cultivated in gardens and homeyards.
SYNONYMS
Sanskrit : Amalaka, Amrtaphala, Dhatriphala
Assamese : Amlaku, Amlakhi, Amlakhu
Bengali : Amla, Dhatri
English : Emblic Myrobalan
Gujrati : Ambala, Amala
Hindi : Amla, Aonla
Kannada : Nellikayi
Kashmiri : Embali, Amli
Malayalam : Nellikka
Marathi : Anvala, Avalkathi
Oriya : Anala, Ainla
Punjabi : Aula, Amla
Tamil : Nellikkai, Nelli
Telugu : Usirika
Urdu : Amla, Amlaj
DESCRIPTION
a) Macroscopic
Fruit, globose, 2.5-3.5 cm in diameter, fleshy, smooth with six prominant lines; greenish when tender, changing to light yellowish or pinkish colour when mature, with a few dark specks: taste, sour and astringent followed by delicately sweet taste.
b) Microscopic
Transverse section of mature fruit shows an epicarp consisting of single layer of epidermis and 2-4 layers of hypodermis; epidermal cell, tabular In shape, covered externally with a thick cuticle and appear in surface view as polygonal; hypodermal cells tangentially elongated, thick-walled, smaller in dimension than epidermal cells; mesocarp forms bulk of fruit, consisting of thin-walled parenchymatous cells with intercellular spaces, peripheral 6-9 layers smaller, ovoid or tangentially elongated while rest of cells larger in size, isodiametric
and radially elongated; several collateral fibrovascular bundles scattered throughout mesocarp consisting of xylem and phloem; xylem composed of tracheal elements, fibre tracheids and xylem fibres; tracheal elements show reticulate scalariform and spiral thickenings; xylem fibres elongated with narrow lumen and pointed end; mesocarp contains
large aggregates of numerous irregular silica crystals.
IDENTITY, PURITY AND STRENGTH
Foreign matter Not more than 2 per cent, Appendix 2.2.2.
Total Ash Not more than 7 per cent, Appendix 2.2.3.
Acid-insoluble ash Not more than 2 per cent, Appendix 2.2.4.
Alcohol-soluble extractive Not less than 40 per cent, Appendix 2.2.6.
(On dried basis)
Water-soluble extractive Not less than 50 per cent, Appendix 2.2.7.
Moisture content Not less than 80 per cent, Appendix 2.2.9
CONSTITUENTS – Ascorbic acid and tannins.
PROPERTIES AND ACTION
Rasa : Madhura, Amla, Katu, Tikta, Kasaya
Guna : Laghu, Ruksa
Virya : Sita
Vipaka : Madhura
Karma : Tridosajit, Vrsya, Rasayana, Caksusya
IMPORTANT FORMULATIONS – Cyavanaprasa.
THERAPEUTIC USES – Raktapitta; Amlapitta; Prameha; Daha
DOSE – 10-20 g of the drug.
5-10 ml of fresh juice.