Garcinia indica | |
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Kokum fruits, seeds, pulp and rinds | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Clade: | Rosids |
Order: | Malpighiales |
Family: | Clusiaceae |
Genus: | Garcinia |
Species: | G. indica |
Binomial name | |
Garcinia indica | |
Garcinia indica, a plant in the mangosteen family (Clusiaceae), commonly known as kokum, is a fruit-bearing tree that has culinary, pharmaceutical, and industrial uses. It grows primarily in India's Western Ghats: in the states of Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka and Kerala.
The genus Garcinia , belonging to the family Clusiaceae, includes about 200 species found in the Old World tropics, mostly in Asia and Africa. Garcinia indica is an evergreen, monoecious tree, [2] which can grow up to 18 meters high, on maturity attaining a pyramid shape.
The fruit, an orange-sized purple berry with fleshy endocarp, [3] [4] contains five to eight seeds, which account for 20–23% of the fruit's weight. The kernels account for 61 percent of the weight of the seed and about 44% of its oil. The seeds are compressed and embedded in an acidic pulp.
Garcinia indica is indigenous to the tropical forest regions of India. Of the 35 species found in India, 17 are endemic. Of these, seven are endemic to the Western Ghats, six in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and four in the northeastern region of India. The kokum variety from the Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg districts from the coastal Konkan region of the state of Maharashtra in India has received the GI (Geographical Indication) tag. [5]
Garcinia indica is found in forest lands, riversides and wastelands. These plants prefer evergreen forests, but sometimes they also thrive in areas with relatively low rainfall. It is also cultivated on a small scale. It does not require irrigation, spraying of pesticides or fertilizers.
The outer cover of fruit is dried in the sun to get aamsul or kokam. [6] It is used as a souring agent typically in Maharashtra, Assam, Karnataka, Goa, Gujarat. Kokum yields a distinctive flavour and deep-red colour. As a souring agent, it is used as an alternative to tamarind in curries and other dishes from south India. [4] It is also used in cuisine from Gujarat, where it is frequently used to add flavor and tartness to dal (lentil soup) for flavor balance. It is extensively used in Assamese cuisine in many dishes like masor tenga (sour fish curry) and tenga dali (sour dal).
The fresh fruit is preserved with sugar to make bright-red squash that is diluted with water and bottled for sale as a beverage called Kokum Sarbat.
The extract of the fruit is called aagul in Konkani and Marathi. It is added during the preparation of solkadhi , which may also include coconut milk, coriander and garlic.
The seed of Garcinia indica contains 23–26% Kokum butter, which remains solid at room temperature. It is used in the preparation of chocolate and sugar confectionery. [7]
The oily extract called Kukum butter is used in ointments and suppositories. [4] It has application in skin and hair products, acne products and skin tonics. [8]
The rind of the fruit is a good source of hydroxycitric acid which has been claimed to modify lipid metabolism. [4]
The tree is ornamental, with a dense canopy of green leaves and red-tinged, tender, young leaves.
Tamarind is a leguminous tree bearing edible fruit that is indigenous to tropical Africa and naturalized in Asia. The genus Tamarindus is monotypic, meaning that it contains only this species. It belongs to the family Fabaceae.
Mangosteen, also known as the purple mangosteen, is a tropical evergreen tree with edible fruit native to tropical lands surrounding the Indian Ocean. Its origin is uncertain due to widespread prehistoric cultivation. It grows mainly in Southeast Asia, southwest India and other tropical areas such as Colombia and Puerto Rico, where the tree has been introduced.
Garcinia is a genus of flowering plants in the family Clusiaceae native to Asia, America, Australia, tropical and southern Africa, and Polynesia. The number of species is disputed; Plants of the World Online (POWO) recognise up to 400. Commonly, the plants in this genus are called saptrees, mangosteens, or garcinias, and is one of several plants known as by the name "monkey fruit".
Momordica charantia is a tropical and subtropical vine of the family Cucurbitaceae, widely grown in Asia, Africa, and the Caribbean for its edible fruit. Its many varieties differ substantially in the shape and bitterness of the fruit.
Garcinia gummi-gutta is a tropical species of Garcinia native to South Asia and Southeast Asia. Common names include Garcinia cambogia, as well as brindle berry, and Malabar tamarind. The fruit looks like a small pumpkin and is green to pale yellow in color.
Assamese cuisine is the cuisine of the Indian state of Assam. It is a style of cooking that is a confluence of cooking habits of the hills that favour fermentation and drying as forms of preservation and those from the plains that provide extremely wide variety of fresh vegetables and greens, and an abundance of fish and meat. Both are centred on the main ingredient — rice. It is a mixture of different indigenous styles with considerable regional variations and some external influences. The traditional way of cooking and the cuisine of Assam is very similar to South-East Asian countries such as Thailand, Burma (Myanmar) and others. The cuisine is characterized by very little use of spices, little cooking over fire, and strong flavours due mainly to the use of endemic exotic fruits and vegetables that are either fresh, dried or fermented. Fish is widely used, and birds like duck, pigeon, squab, etc. are very popular, which are often paired with a main vegetable or ingredient; beef used to be eaten before British colonialism, and some continue to do so. Preparations are rarely elaborate. The practice of bhuna, the gentle frying of spices before the addition of the main ingredients so common in Indian cooking, is absent in the cuisine of Assam. The preferred oil for cooking is the pungent mustard oil.
Malvani cuisine is the standard cuisine of the South Konkan region of the Indian states of Maharashtra and Goa. Although Malvani cuisine is predominantly non-vegetarian, there are many vegetarian dishes. Although it is an independent cuisine, it overlaps Maharashtrian cuisine and Goan cuisine. Malvan is a town in the Sindhudurg district on the west coast of Maharashtra.
Maharashtrian or Marathicuisine is the cuisine of the Marathi people from the Indian state of Maharashtra. It has distinctive attributes, while sharing much with other Indian cuisines. Traditionally, Maharashtrians have considered their food to be more austere than others.
In botany, a berry is a fleshy fruit without a stone (pit) produced from a single flower containing one ovary. Berries so defined include grapes, currants, and tomatoes, as well as cucumbers, eggplants (aubergines) and bananas, but exclude certain fruits that meet the culinary definition of berries, such as strawberries and raspberries. The berry is the most common type of fleshy fruit in which the entire outer layer of the ovary wall ripens into a potentially edible "pericarp". Berries may be formed from one or more carpels from the same flower. The seeds are usually embedded in the fleshy interior of the ovary, but there are some non-fleshy exceptions, such as Capsicum species, with air rather than pulp around their seeds.
Sandoricum koetjape, the santol, sentul or cotton fruit, is a tropical fruit native to maritime Southeast Asia (Malesia).
Madhuca longifolia is an Indian tropical tree found largely in the central, southern, north Indian plains and forests, Nepal, Myanmar and Sri Lanka. It is commonly known as madhūka, madkam, mahuwa, Butter Tree, mahua, mahwa, mohulo, Iluppai, Mee or vippa chettu. It is a fast-growing tree that grows to approximately 20 meters in height, possesses evergreen or semi-evergreen foliage, and belongs to the family Sapotaceae. It is adaptable to arid environments, being a prominent tree in tropical mixed deciduous forests in India in the states of Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala, Gujarat, West Bengal and Tamil Nadu.
Konkani cuisine is the cuisine of the Saraswat Brahmins from the Konkan region on the western coast of India. Konkani cuisine differs within the Saraswat Brahmin subsects and within the Konkan-Canara region. Konkani cuisine originally hails from the Konkan region including Uttara Kannada, Udupi district, Dakshina Kannada, Damaon, and Goa, India. Konkani cuisine is popular served in many restaurants throughout the western coast of India, and especially in the cities of Bombay and Bangalore. Each variation has its unique flavour and makes uses of different vegetables and fruits available in the region. Konkani cuisine is usually pesco-vegetarian, except acharyas and purohits who follow a strictly saatvik vegetarian diet. According the Konkani folklore, fish, meats are regarded as sea vegetables. Historically, they have refrained from eating any terrestrial animals in general.
Goan cuisine consists of regional foods popular in Goa, an Indian state located along India's west coast on the shore of the Arabian Sea. Rice, seafood, coconut, vegetables, meat, bread, pork and local spices are some of the main ingredients in Goan cuisine. Use of kokum and vinegar is another distinct feature. Goan food is considered incomplete without fish.
Garcinia morella is a species of tree in the family Clusiaceae found in India, and Sri Lanka.
Solkadhi is a type of drink, an appetizer originating from the Indian subcontinent, usually eaten with rice or sometimes drunk after or along with the meals. Popular in the konkan regions, especially Goa and parts of coastal Maharashtra, it is made from coconut milk and dried kokum skins, whose anthocyanin pigments provide a deep purple-pink colour.
Garcinia atroviridis, known as asam gelugur, asam gelugo, or asam keping is a large rainforest tree native to Peninsular Malaysia and Sumatra. This species grows wild throughout Peninsular Malaysia but is also widely cultivated, especially in the northern states, owing to its economic and medicinal value. Garcinia atroviridis is a large perennial plant commonly found in evergreen forests in the southern region of Thailand and Malaysia.
Garcinia pushpangadaniana is a tree species in the family Clusiaceae. It was described in 2013 from a population found in the southern part of the Western Ghats in India. The specific epithet of this species honors Dr. P. Pushpangadan, former Director of Jawaharlal Nehru Tropical Botanical Garden & Research Institute.
Kokum oil is a seed oil derived from the seeds of the kokum tree. Kokum oil is edible and can also be used for things other than cooking.
Garcinia talbotii is a large tree in the family Clusiaceae and is endemic to the Western Ghats of India. The tree has yellow latex, and can attain a height of 25 m and girth up to 2.2 m. This species was first reported from Gairsoppah Ghats in North Kanara of Karanataka district.
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