''Garcinia atroviridis'', known as asam gelugur, asam gelugo, or asam keping (in Malay, ) is a large

rainforest Rainforests are forests characterized by a closed and continuous tree Canopy (biology), canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforests can be generally classified as tropi ...

tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, e.g., including only woody plants with secondary growth, only ...

native to

Peninsular Malaysia Peninsular Malaysia, historically known as Malaya and also known as West Malaysia or the Malaysian Peninsula, is the western part of Malaysia that comprises the southern part of the Malay Peninsula on Mainland Southeast Asia and the list of isla ...

Hassan, Dr. W. E. (2006). ''Healing Herbs of Malaysia''. Kuala Lumpur: Federal Land Development Agency. and

Sumatra Sumatra () is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the list of islands by area, sixth-largest island in the world at 482,286.55 km2 (182,812 mi. ...

. 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 In horticulture, the term perennial (''wikt:per-#Prefix, per-'' + ''wikt:-ennial#Suffix, -ennial'', "through the year") is used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annual plant, annuals and biennial plant, biennials. It has thus been d ...

commonly found in evergreen forests in the southern region of

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

and Malaysia.

Description

The tree grows to a height of more than 20 m and has a long trunk, smooth grey bark and drooping branches. The

leaves A leaf (: leaves) is a principal appendage of the stem of a vascular plant, usually borne laterally above ground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, stem, ...

are dark green, shiny, long and narrow with a pointed tip and upturned edges. The species is dioecious with male and female flowers on separate trees. The flowers are dark red. The round

fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants (angiosperms) that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which angiosperms disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particular have long propaga ...

s are borne singly on twig ends about 7–10 cm in diameter. The ripe fruits are bright orange yellow, which are sliced, dried and used in

curries Curry is a dish with a sauce or gravy seasoned with spices, mainly derived from the interchange of Indian cuisine with European taste in food, starting with the Portuguese, followed by the Dutch and British, and then thoroughly internation ...

or stewed in plenty of sugar to be eaten.

Uses

The fruit contains

citric acid Citric acid is an organic compound with the formula . It is a Transparency and translucency, colorless Weak acid, weak organic acid. It occurs naturally in Citrus, citrus fruits. In biochemistry, it is an intermediate in the citric acid cycle, ...

tartaric acid Tartaric acid is a white, crystalline organic acid that occurs naturally in many fruits, most notably in grapes but also in tamarinds, bananas, avocados, and citrus. Its salt (chemistry), salt, potassium bitartrate, commonly known as cream of ta ...

malic acid Malic acid is an organic compound with the molecular formula . It is a dicarboxylic acid that is made by all living organisms, contributes to the sour taste of fruits, and is used as a food additive. Malic acid has two stereoisomeric forms ( ...

and

ascorbic acid Ascorbic acid is an organic compound with formula , originally called hexuronic acid. It is a white solid, but impure samples can appear yellowish. It dissolves freely in water to give mildly acidic solutions. It is a mild reducing agent. Asco ...

hydroxycitric acid Hydroxycitric acid (HCA) is a derivative of citric acid that is found in a variety of tropical plants including '' Garcinia cambogia'' and ''Hibiscus sabdariffa''. There are four isomers, (+)- and (-)-hydroxycitric acid, and (+)- and (-)-allo-hyd ...

, and

flavonoid Flavonoids (or bioflavonoids; from the Latin word ''flavus'', meaning yellow, their color in nature) are a class of polyphenolic secondary metabolites found in plants, and thus commonly consumed in the diets of humans. Chemically, flavonoids ...

s. Ripe asam fruit is bright-yellow orange. Sun-dried slices of the fruits, locally known as "asam keping", are commercially available and are popularly used as a vegetable salad and is considered extremely sour. The fruit is sliced, dried then stewed and used as a common ingredient in Asian dishes such as curries and soups. Asam gelugor is a perennial fruit tree native to the tropical climate in Malaysia. The trees can also be found in other parts of South East Asia, particularly in Thailand where demand for the asam fruit is increasing. AsamKeping

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q4920519 atroviridis Medicinal plants of Asia Plants described in 1874 Fruits originating in Asia Flora of Peninsular Malaysia Flora of Thailand

Description

Uses

See also

References