Amla extract (Emblica officinalis)

Amla, or Indian gooseberry, is the fruit of Phyllanthus emblica L. (synonym Emblica officinalis Gaertn., family Phyllanthaceae), known in Ayurveda as Amalaki. Thovek supplies fruit extract produced by aqueous or hydroalcoholic extraction of destoned, dried fruit, followed by concentration and spray drying. The dominant chemistry is hydrolysable tannin: the emblicanins A and B together with punigluconin and pedunculagin make up the bulk of the tannoid fraction, alongside gallic acid (C7H6O5, MW 170.12), ellagic acid, beta-glucogallin and flavonoids including kaempferol and quercetin. The fruit's astringency comes from this ellagitannin load, and it is the practical basis on which the extract is bought and sold. Buyers should be careful with the vitamin C story attached to this ingredient. Fresh amla fruit is a genuine ascorbic acid source, commonly reported in the range of roughly 200-900 mg per 100 g depending on cultivar, maturity and season, with the ICMR Indian Food Composition Tables placing it near 600 mg per 100 g. But the conventional colorimetric assay is known to over-read ascorbic acid in this particular fruit, because the tannins are themselves reducing agents; specific enzymatic and chromatographic methods return lower and truer figures. Commercial amla extract is therefore standardised on tannins or polyphenols, not on vitamin C. Our regular grades are 40% or 45% tannins by titration, 25-50% polyphenols by UV expressed as gallic acid equivalents, and 1%, 5% or 10% gallic acid by HPLC. If a label vitamin C declaration is intended, ask for a specific ascorbic acid assay by HPLC on the actual lot rather than a colorimetric number, and plan for the result to be modest; most finished products carrying a meaningful vitamin C claim use added ascorbate. Spray-dried amla juice powder on maltodextrin, freeze-dried fruit powder and organic-certified grades are also available, and these are genuinely different products from the standardised extract: juice powder carries the fruit's full solids at low marker concentration, while the extract concentrates the tannin fraction and will behave differently in a formula. All grades are vegan and vegetarian, non-GMO, and free from milk, egg, fish, crustacean, soy, peanut, tree nut and sesame; maltodextrin carriers are maize-derived and gluten-free. The powder is strongly hygroscopic and mildly acidic, typically pH 4.0-6.0 in aqueous solution, so it should be handled in a low-humidity room and checked for compatibility with alkaline excipients and with iron and other metal-ion-sensitive actives before scale-up. Batch documentation covers assay, loss on drying, ash, heavy metals to USP <232>, residual solvents, pesticide residues and microbiology, with allergen, GMO, irradiation and country-of-origin statements.