Legend has it that the doyen among Tamil poets, Avvayar presented the only celestial Amla in her possession to the prince, Adhiyaman to confer longevity on him and enable him to continue his philanthropic pursuits for the benefit of mankind. October-December is the season for Amla, the wonder fruit. Highly valued by nutritionists and prized by practitioners of indigenous medicine, the virtues of Amla appear to have been known for long.

Scientifically known as Embilca Officinalis or Phyllanthus emblica, Amla grows wild or can be cultivated. It is known by many names like Amla or Usirikai, Nelli, Gooseberry etc. Amla is grown in Srilanka, China and Malaysia and in most parts of India. The tree is commonly found in forest upto 4500ft above sea level. The fruits ripen during winter. They are green when tender changing to light yellow or brick red, when mature. The fruit is sour and astringent and is occasionally eaten raw; Small boys specially enjoy the sweet after-taste of a glass of water after eating Amla. The fruit is a rich source of pectin, and is thus highly useful in making jams and jellies. Amla is much esteemed for making pickles and preserves.

A small variety of Amla Known as Star Gooseberry is sour in taste and usually eaten raw. Amla is probably the richest known natural source of vitamin C. The fruit pulp is reported to contain as much as 600 mg of the vitamin per 100 g. and the press juice as much as 920 mg/100 ml: nearly twenty times as much as in orange juice. One tiny Amla is equal in vitamin C value to one or two oranges. The fruit contains a chemical substance, which prevents the oxidation of the vitamin in it. Therefore Amla is a rich source of vitamin C in the fresh as well as the dry condition. It is a custom in many Hindu families to include Amla in the diet, especially in the first meal taken after a day of fasting. The vitamin is well conserved by preserving the fruit in solution or in the form dry powder. The dried fruit is reported to lose only 20 per cent of its vitamin in 375 days when kept in a refrigerator and about two-thirds when stored at ordinary temperature.

Vitamin C in Amla has been shown to be readily assimilated by the human system and Amla was successfully used in the treatment of human scurvy in the Hissar famine of 1939-40.

Amla-fruit has been held in high esteem in indigenous medicine. It is acidic cooling refrigerant diuretic and laxative. It is claimed that the dried fruit is useful in hemorrhage diarrhea and dyssentery. In combination with iron, Amla is used as a remedy for anemia, jaundice and dyspepsia. A fermented liquor prepared from the fruit is used in jaundice, dyspepsia and cough. Acute bacillary dysentery may be arrested by drinking a sherbet of Amla with lemon juice. Amla is one of the three ingredients in Triphala, a compound in indigenous medicine, used in the treatment of headache, biliousness, dyspepsia, constipation and enlarged liver.