Amla, a richest source of vitamin 'C' among the fruits was dried in a solar dryer to investigate the effect of treatments on loss of ascorbic acid and other rehydration characteristics. The pre-treatments under study were un-treated; flaking; pricking; pricking + blanching; pricking + blanching + flaking; pricking + blanching + sulphitation and pricking + blanching + flaking + sulphitation. Among all the treatments, flaking treated sample retained maximum ascorbic acid (76.6%). The rehydrated moisture content, rehydration ratio and coefficient of restoration were also found to be maximum for the flaked amla sample while all these values were minimum for the untreated (control) sample. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.