The Gooseberry: A veritable ‘tree of life’
MANY Guyanese may know that the humble Gooseberry tree was brought to Guyana from India, but few would know of the amazing attributes of its fruit. The Gooseberry is a deciduous tree of the Phyllantanceae family, and is known for its sour but edible fruit. Growing to a height of between eight and eighteen metres, with a crooked trunk and spreading branches, the flowers are greenish-yellow, the fruit is nearly spherical, light greenish yellow, quite smooth and hard on appearance, with six vertical stripes.
In India, the country of  origin of our local trees, the  tree is known as Amla or Amalaki, and it may be a surprise to quite a few that the normally overlooked gooseberry is a common ingredient found in ancient Ayurveda medicine coming from some of the world’s longest and oldest recorded texts.
Though all parts of the tree have medicinal value, it is the fruit which is highly potent.
For starters, the Gooseberry contains the most concentrated form of Vitamin C in the entire plant kingdom. One Gooseberry contains approximately 20 times the Vitamin C content of an orange.
In India, the Gooseberry has been in use for thousands of years to treat a variety of diseases and ailments.
The rich source of Vitamin C from the fruit acts as a great detoxifying agent for a sluggish liver, and helps to make the skin clear and radiant.
Scientific sources assert that, apart from Vitamin C, the Gooseberry is a rich source of dietary fiber, calcium, phosphorus, iron, carotene, Vitamin B, protein and carbohydrates. Various medical and herbal websites on the World Wide Web disclose the antibacterial, antiviral, resistance-building properties of the fruit, which helps to prevent infection and helps in the healing of ulcers and hyperacidity.
The Gooseberry enhances the absorption of food by strengthening digestion, and is very refreshing, cooling, diuretic and laxative. It reduces body heat or weight naturally, and restores stomach and intestinal digestive enzymes.
Eating Gooseberries assists in anti-aging; the treatment of gastric problems; detoxification of the body; boosting the immune system; treating Vitamin C deficiencies; suppressing appetite; lowering acidity; treating indigestion, gas, constipation, piles, gastric ulcers, high cholesterol, high blood sugar, arterial plaque, asthma, allergies, bad coughs, stress, tension, eczema, hair loss, inflammation; strengthening teeth; maintaining balanced liver and heart circulatory functions, and increasing red blood cell production.
It is very helpful in skin diseases, promoting a glow on skin and delaying wrinkles or loosening of skin.
The medicinal and health properties of the Gooseberry are too numerous to mention in this limited space, but if you do have a tree in your yard, maybe it is time for you to view it in another light, so to speak, and to care more for the humble but amazing fruits.
You may want to grow a Gooseberry tree as a health tree in your yard, or just as a reminder of how provident nature can be.
Further information on the availability of the Gooseberry tree can be had from the # 1 Plant Shop on Sheriff Street (Tel # 227-8094).