Amalaki (Ayurveda) Aamla (Unani) Skyu Ru Raསྐྱ་རུ་ར(Tibetan) Yu Gan Zi 余甘子 (TCM)
Emblic Myrobalan Witsen, N., Jager, H. de, Plantae Javanicae pictae, ex Java transmissae anno MDCC (1700) Chebulic, Emblic, Belleric, Citrine (Yellow) and Indian (Black) Myrobalan A Complete History of Drugs, Pomet, London, 1748
1. Clears Heat and Bile: -primary medicine for Heat and Bile diseases -clears Heat while supporting the Yin and body fluids -clears Heat from the Blood: skin Eruptions and Skin Diseases caused by Heat and Toxin. -“It reduces the Heat of Blood“. (Avicenna)
2. Clears Heat, Moistens the Throat, Stops Cough: -Lung Heat with dry Cough or dryness of the Lungs. -Common Cold, Fever, Cough, Sore Throat
3. Clears Stomach Heat, Benefits the Spleen: -Inflammation or Ulcers of the Stomach and Intestines -Indigestion, Abdominal Distention (Chinese Pharmacopoeia) -Constipation or Diarrhea coming from Heat.
4. Benefits Yin and Blood: -strengthens hair and darkens hair color -benefits Eyes -“very useful for Nerves and Joints”. (Avicenna)
5. Sattvic, -traditionally said to bring good fortune, promoting Love and Longevity -“strengthens and purifies the Heart and increases intellect”. (Avicenna)
1. Anemia, take Emblic Myrobalan, … available in PRO version 2. Constipation, Emblic Myrobalan with … available in PRO version 3. Hyperacidity, Gastric Ulcers, Emblic Myrobalan with … available in PRO version 4. Heart diseases, Arrhythmia, Emblic Myrobalan with … available in PRO version 5. Chest pain, Angina, Atherosclerosis, Emblic Myrobalan, Turmeric, Bdellium, Arjuna (Ayurveda) 6. High Cholesterol, Emblic Myrobalan with … available in PRO version 7. Diabetes, i. Emblic Myrobalan with … available in PRO version ii. Emblic Myrobalan with … available in PRO version iii. Emblic Myrobalan with … available in PRO version iv. Emblic Myrobalan with … available in PRO version v. Emblic Myrobalan with … available in PRO version 8. Gout from Damp-Heat, Emblic Myrobalan, … available in PRO version 9. Liver disorders, Emblic Myrobalan with … available in PRO version
1. Safe and well tolerated. Sometimes causes constipation and colic which is usually corrected in formula. 2. Mesue said the only deleterious effect of the Myrobalans was their potential to create obstruction. This is why they are regularly mixed with Ghee or Oil and Honey in Ayurveda and Unani. They are also used with medicines to prevent likelihood of obstruction such as Stoechas, Indian Spikenard, Ginger or Pepper etc. 3. Pemell said they should not be used in Obstruction or Fever. They are sometimes used in formulas in these cases with appropriate medicines.
‘The fruit of this tree is the Dhatriphala, Amritaphala, Amalaka or Sriphala of the Nighantas, and is described as having all the properties of the chebulic myrobalan. It is used both fresh and dried; in the former condition it is considered to be refrigerant, diuretic and laxative; in the latter, astringent. It is pickled by the natives, and, on account of a peculiar flavour which it imparts, some of the forest tribes eat it. before drinking water. A sherbet of the fruit, sweetened with sugar or honey, is a favourite cooling drink for sick people; it is said to be diuretic. A country-side prescription for biliousness in the Concan is Axala, 4 massas, to be soaked all night in water, and in the morning to be pounded and mixed with a quarter seer of milk and flavoured with sugar and cumin. Emblic myrobalans are an ingredient in many compound preparations described in Sanskrit works. A selection of these prescriptions will be found in Butt’s Hindu Materia Medica; the following, translated from Chakradatta, may be taken as an example:—
“Dhatri lauha.—Take of powdered Emblic myrobalans 64 tolas, prepared iron 32 tolas, liquorice powder 16 tolds, mix them together, and soak in the juice of Tinospora cordifolia seven times successively.
This preparation is given in jaundice, anaemia and dyspepsia, in doses of from 20 to 40 grains.”
Mahometan physicians esteem this myrobalan equally with the Hindus ;they describe it as astringent, refrigerant, cardiacal, and a purifier of the humors of the body. It is much prescribed by them in fluxes, and is also applied externally on account of its cooling and astringent properties. The Arabic name is Amlaj, and the Persian Amala. Ainslie states that the flowers, which have an odour resembling that of lemon peel, are supposed by the Vytians to have virtues of a cooling and aperient nature, and are prescribed in conjunction with other articles in the form of an electuary. {Mat. Ind., ii., p. 244.) In the Pharmacopoeia of India it is stated, upon the authority of Dr. M. Ross, that the root by decoction and evaporation yields an astringent extract equal to catechu, both for medicinal purposes and in the arts; the chips of the wood or small branches thrown into impure or muddy water, according to the same authority, clear it effectually. In the Concan the juice of the fresh bark, with honey and turmeric, is given in gonorrhoea. (Pharmacographia Indica, Dymock, 1893)