Phyllanthus emblica (amala)
- 1. Phyllanthus emblica (Amala) Prepared by: Sandesh and Sandhya
- 2. OVERVIEWS Introduction Nomenclature Habitat Cultivation and Collection Chemical constituents Traditional uses Pharmacological action Commercial value References
- 3. INTRODUCTION The tree is small to medium sized, reaching 8 to 18 m in height, with crooked trunk and spreading branches. The leaves simple, sub-sessile and closely set along branchlets, light green, resembling pinnate leaves. The fruit is nearly spherical, light greenish yellow, quite smooth and hard on appearance.
- 4. CONT… The flowers are greenish-yellow. All of the plant parts have useful pharmacological action. Traditionally, it was used as ayurvedic medicine which is based on a model of bodily humours or doshas and a need to maintain the inner life force (prana) which is believed to give rise to the fire of digestion and mental energy.
- 5. NOMENCLATURE Kingdom: Plantae Division: Tracheophyta Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Malpighiales Family: Phyllanthaceae Genus: Phyllanthus Species: P. emblica Common names: Amala (Nepali), Amalika (Sanskrit)
- 6. HABITAT Phyllanthus emblica is found throughout Nepal to about 1600m, India, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Southern China and South East Asia. It is native to tropical south eastern Asia and found in mixed deciduous open forest of tropical and subtropical regions.
- 7. CULTIVATION AND COLLECTION Cultivation: Phyllanthus emblica is a sub-tropical plant and while it often recovers from cold temperatures, it thrives best when it's not exposed to frost. However, it grows well in sunny and warm location. It grows in all types of soil except sandy and requires good sunlight and rainfall.
- 8. CONT… Although amala is noted for growing well in areas where the soil is too dry or poor in quality for other fruits, it will thrive in deep soil that is slightly acidic or slightly alkaline. Grown by seed germination, also can be propagated by cutting, does not tolerate the frost or drought. Collection: Collection is usually done when the fruits are ripened.
- 9. CHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS The fruits of P.emblica are rich in tannins. The fruits have 28% of the total tannins distributed in the whole plant. The fruit contains two hydrolysable tannins emblicanin A and B, which have antioxidant properties, one on hydrolysis gives gallic acid, ellagic acid and glucose. The fruit also contains phyllemblin.
- 10. CONT… Other constituents present are:
- 11. CONT…
- 14. TRADITIONAL USES Ayurveda, Siddha, Unani systems of India, Tibetan, Sri Lanka and Chinese systems of medicine utilizes Amala for a variety of ailments. The fruit is acidic, astringent, diuretic, laxative, stomachic, and useful for diarrhea, dysentery, dyspepsia, menorrhagia, hemorrhage, inflammation of eye, and troubles of the uterus. The juice is useful for treating burning sensations of the heart and during urinary discharge thirst, also disease of the heart, liver complaints, and eye troubles. It reduces intra ocular tension in a remarkable manner when juice mixed with honey and taken twice daily. A powder of the amala seed and red sandalwood is given with honey, to stop emesis.
- 15. CONT… One teaspoonful of the paste of leaves mixed with honey or butter-milk is an effective Medicare in the treatment of diarrhoea and dysentery. The juice or extract of the fruit is combined with honey and pipli for hiccup and for painful respiration. Juice of the bark combined with honey and turmeric is a remedy for gonorrhea. Leaves are used as infusion with fenugreek seeds in chronic dysentery and as a bitter tonic. Juice of the leaves, about 2 teaspoons twice a day, is given for constipation.
- 16. PHARMACOLOGICAL ACTIONS 1. Antioxidant and antibacterial activity : Methanolic extracts of dried leaves of Phyllanthus emblica was used for the comparative study of antibacterial and antioxidant activity and the research work was ended positively showing the extract has both these activities (Shivaji et al., 2010). 2. Radioprotective activity : It has been reported that mice treated with P. emblica extract before exposure to different doses of gamma radiation can reduce the severity of symptoms of radiation sickness and mortality (Singh et al., 2006).
- 17. CONT… 3. Antidepressant activity : • Pemminati et al. (2010) has checked the antidepressant activity of aqueous extract of fruits of P. emblica in inbred adult male Swiss Albino mice weighing 25-30g. The test was carried out by forced swim test (FST) and tail suspension test (TST). The result of this test showed the antidepressant activity of P. emblica as comparable to the of standard antidepressant drug imipramine. 4. Antifungal activity : Antifungal property of P. emblica was reported against Aspergillus (Satish et al., 2007).
- 18. CONT… 5. Antipyretic and analgesic properties : • Preliminary phytochemical screening of the extracts showed the presence of alkaloids, tannins, phenolic compounds, carbohydrates and amino acids which are responsible for antipyretic and analgesic activities. 6. Hepato-protective activity : • The histopathological study of liver cells of rats was examined by administering P. emblica as a preventative agent to reduce paracetamol induced hepatotoxicity and it has been observed that fruit extract has the ability to rectify toxicity or hepatic damage (Malar and Bai, 2009).
- 19. CONT… 7.Hypo-lipidemic effect Amala fruit have been reported to have significant anti- hyperlipidemic and anti-atherogenic effect ( Santosh kumar et al., 2013).Treatment with Amala caused significant reduction of total cholesterol (TC), Low density lipoprotein ( LDL ), triglyceride (TG), very low density lipoprotein (VLDL) and a significant increase in high density lipoprotein (HDL) level in patient with type II hyperlipidemia. 8. Anti- inflammatory activity Amala showed anti-inflammatory activities in carrageenan induced acute and cotton pellet induced chronic inflammation in Sprague-Dawley rats by reducing paw volume in acute inflammat-
- 20. CONT… ion and by decreasing cotton pellet induced granulomas tissue lipid peroxidation, the granulomatous tissue mass, myeloperoxidase activity and plasma extravasation in chronic inflammatory condition ( Muthuraman et al., 2011). 9. Anti-cancer activity Amala exhibits its anticancer activities through inhibition of activator protein-1 and targets transcription of viral oncogenes responsible for development of cervical cancer thus demonstrating its potential efficacy for treatment of human papillomavirus-induced cervical cancers (Mahata et al., 2013).
- 21. COMMERCIAL VALUE Cost of 1kg of Amla powder : Rs 1200 ( In Nepal) Constitutes of P.emblica are used in preparation of Triphala, Chyawanprash,etc. Also used in cosmaceuticals product like shampoos, soap, hair oil, etc.
- 22. REFERENCES https://www.researchgate.net/publication/291186546_Ph ytochemistry_pharmacological_activities_and_traditional_ uses_of_Emblica_officinalis_A_review https://gafacom.website/medicinal-properties-of-amla- emblica-officinalis Int. J. Pharm. Sci. Rev. Res., 24(2), Jan – Feb 2014; nᵒ 25, 150-159