Emblica, Indian Gooseberry

Medicinal Uses

Edible Uses

Edible Parts: Fruit  Leaves  Oil  Seed | Edible Uses: Oil  PectinFruit - raw or cooked[301 , 418 ]. An acid, rather astringent flavour, they are not often eaten raw unless accompanied with sugar, salt or chillies to moderate them[299 , 301 ]. The astringency can be removed by steeping the fruits in brine for a few days[299 ]. The fruits are more commonly used to make jams, jellies, tarts, chutneys etc[301 ]. The fruit is often used as a wayside nibble to quench the thirst[306 ]. Rich in pectin, the fruit is said to be one of the richest natural sources of vitamin C[200 , 298 , 306 ], the fruit is also a good source of carbohydrate and minerals[200 ]. The mature fruit contains 1 - 1.8% vitamin C[266 ]. The yellow fruit is up to 25mm in diameter[200 ]. Fruits of wild plants weigh approximately 5.5g, cultivated fruits average 28 - 50g[ Many Hindus regard emblic as sacred and the Hindu religion prescribes that ripe fruit be eaten for 40 days after a fast in order to restore health and vitality. It is a common practice for Indian housewives to cook the fruits with sugar and saffron and give one or two to a child every morning[306 ]. Fruits are often preserved by splitting, removing the stone, putting the segments into a solution of 42% glycerol, 42% sucrose, water and preservatives, then heating to 90°c for 3 minutes. The fruits are allowed to equilibrate in the solution for two days at 2°c, then they are drained and packed into containers. Fruits preserved in this way remain acceptable for about 2 months at room temperature, and much longer when cooled, but the ascorbic acid content drops slowly[299 ]. Leaves - cooked. Small, with a bitter flavour[298 ]. Unripe seed[301 ]. Seeds yield about 16% of a brownish yellow oil with linoleic acid (44%), oleic acid (28.4%), linolenic acid (8.8%), stearic acid (2.2%), palmitic acid (3.0%) and myristic acid (1.0%)[299 ]. Used in the manufacture of black salt[301 ].

Cultivation

A plant mainly of the hot, tropical lowlands, succeeding in both humid and semi-arid areas[200 , 335 ]. It can also be found at elevations up to 2,300 metres in southern China. It grows best in areas where annual daytime temperatures are within the range 20 - 29°c, but can tolerate 14 - 35°c[418 ]. It prefers a mean annual rainfall in the range 1,500 - 2,500mm, but tolerates 700 - 4,200mm[418 ]. Emblic is a very easily grown plant, reported to thrive in regions that are too dry and on soil that is too poor for most other fruit crops[306 ]. Requires a position in full sun or part day shade, but is undemanding as to soil requirements so long as it is well-drained[200 , 306 ]. It can even succeed on alkaline soils, though in a highly alkaline soil (pH 8.0) nutritional deficiencies are evident[306 ]. For maximum productivity, the tree requires deep soil ranging from sandy loam to clay, light or heavy, and slightly acidic to slightly alkaline[306 ]. Plants seem to grow equally well under both arid and humid conditions[306 ]. Prefers a pH in the range 6 - 8, tolerating 5 - 8[418 ]. The tree is rather slow-growing and usually only bears fruit when 6 - 8 years old[418 ]. Seedlings take about 10 years to come into bearing[306 ]. The plant only produces flowers at a daylength between 12 - 13.5 hours[418 ]. Annual fruit yields may be about 15 - 25 kilos per tree[418 ]. Mature plants can yield 200 kilos of fruit per year[306 ]. Ripe fruits may be retained for several months on the tree without significant loss of quality. Because of this, a long period is available for picking the fruits for consumption[299 ]. The tree coppices well and pollards fairly well[299 ]. Coppiced shoots grow particularly vigorously, and coppicing is considered the system most suitable for the production and collection of tanbark on a commercial scale[299 ]. Usually plantations need much weeding because the thin crowns do not form a closed canopy[299 ]. There are some named varieties[301 ]. Emblic is fire resistant, and is one of the first trees to recover after a fire[299 , 418 ]. Plants are usually monoecious, but occasional dioecious forms are found. Flowering Time: Late Winter/Early Spring. Bloom Color: Chartreuse (Yellow-Green).

Known Hazards

None known

Habitats

Mixed forests[306 ]. Drier forests[307 ]. Dry open sparse forests or scrub, village groves at elevations of 200 - 2,300 metres in southern China[266 ].