''Garcinia morella'' is a species of tree in the family

Clusiaceae The Clusiaceae or Guttiferae Juss. (1789) (''nom. alt. et cons.'' = alternative and valid name) are a family (biology), family of plants including 13 genera and ca 750 species. Several former members of Clusiacae are now placed in Calophyllaceae ...

found in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

, and

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

Common names

* Assamese: Kũzi Thekera (কুঁঁজী ঠেকেৰা) *

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

: ''gamboge'' (

), ''gamboge'' (

) *

Tamil Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka ** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...

: ''iravasinni'' (இரேவற்சின்னி), ''makki'' * Tulu: a''radāḷa'' *

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of ...

: ''iravi'', ''chigiri'' *

Kannada Kannada () is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly in the state of Karnataka in southwestern India, and spoken by a minority of the population in all neighbouring states. It has 44 million native speakers, and is additionally a ...

: ''devana huli'', ''jirigehuli'', ''murina huli'', ''ponpuli'', 'dirakala hannu' * Sinhalese: ''kokatiya'', ''gokatiya'', ''goraka'' (ගොරකා)

Description

Trees are up to 12 m tall. Bark is smooth, and dark brown in color; blaze white. Leaves simple, opposite, decussate; petiole 0.6-1.5 cm long, canaliculate, sheathing at base, glabrous; lamina 6.5-15 x 3.5-8 cm, usually elliptic, sometimes narrow obovate, apex acute to acuminate, base attenuate; coriaceous or subcoriaceous, glabrous; secondary_nerves 6-8 pairs; tertiary_nerves obscure. Flowers show

inflorescence In botany, an inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a plant's Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a system of branches. An inflorescence is categorized on the basis of the arrangement of flowers on a mai ...

and are

dioecious Dioecy ( ; ; adj. dioecious, ) is a characteristic of certain species that have distinct unisexual individuals, each producing either male or female gametes, either directly (in animals) or indirectly (in seed plants). Dioecious reproduction is ...

; male flowers in fascicles, axillary; female flowers larger than male, solitary, axillary.

Uses

Ripe fruits can be eaten but they are very acidic. Just like other garcinia varieties such as

kokum ''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 Mahara ...

(which is prevalent in the Indian west coast) or garcinia pedunculata, the fruit can be preserved by slicing into thin pieces and then drying under sun. It can be made into pickles.

Bodos The Boro (बर'/बड़ो ), also called Bodo, are a Tibeto-Burman speaking ethnolinguistic group native to the state of Assam in India. They are a part of the greater Bodo-Kachari family of ethnolinguistic groups and are spread across ...

cook the unripe fruit as vegetable with fish. A

chutney A chutney () is a spread typically associated with cuisines of the Indian subcontinent. Chutneys are made in a wide variety of forms, such as a tomato relish, a ground peanut garnish, yogurt, or curd, cucumber, spicy coconut, spicy onion ...

can be made by boiling the fruit. In

Assam Assam (, , ) is a state in Northeast India, northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra Valley, Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . It is the second largest state in Northeast India, nor ...

, dried and preserved slices are added to black green pulses to make a popular slightly acidic curry. Dried up fruit slices are valued as a traditional remedy for

dysentery Dysentery ( , ), historically known as the bloody flux, is a type of gastroenteritis that results in bloody diarrhea. Other symptoms may include fever, abdominal pain, and a feeling of incomplete defecation. Complications may include dehyd ...

. In

Ayurveda Ayurveda (; ) is an alternative medicine system with historical roots in the Indian subcontinent. It is heavily practised throughout India and Nepal, where as much as 80% of the population report using ayurveda. The theory and practice of ayur ...

the fruits are used in the treatment of dysentery, gastritis, etc. and is said to have anti inflammatory properties. When the bark is cut it exudes a yellow resin called

gamboge Gamboge ( ) is a deep-yellow pigment derived from a species of tree that primarily grows in Cambodia. Popular in East Asian watercolor works, it has been used across a number of media dating back to the 8th century. Easy to transport and manipula ...

that is used in food, paints and medicines. It can be used as a rootstock for the

mangosteen Mangosteen (''Garcinia mangostana''), also known as the purple mangosteen, is a tropical evergreen tree with edible fruit native to Island Southeast Asia, from the Malay Peninsula to Borneo. It has been cultivated extensively in tropical Asia ...

(Garcinia mangostana). In Malnad region of Karnataka, Tirtahalli and Chikkamagalore this is widely used in name of 'odduli', especially in fish recipes. Odduli is prepared by boiling the fruit to get a thick black liquid which can be stored for years without adding preservatives.

Chemistry

The

xanthonoid A xanthonoid is a chemical natural phenolic compound formed from the xanthone backbone. Many members of the Clusiaceae The Clusiaceae or Guttiferae Juss. (1789) (''nom. alt. et cons.'' = alternative and valid name) are a family (biology), fami ...

s gaudichaudione A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, gaudichaudiic acid A, B, C, D, E, morellic acid and forbesione from ''G. gaudichaudii''.Novel cytotoxic polyprenylated xanthonoids from Garcinia gaudichaudii (Guttiferae). Shu-Geng Cao, Valerie H. L. Sng, Xiao-Hua Wu, a, Keng-Yeow Sim, B. H. K. Tan, J. T. Pereira and S. H. Goh, Tetrahedron, Volume 54, Issue 36, 3 September 1998, Pages 10915-10924,

References

morella Plant dyes {{Clusiaceae-stub

Common names

Description

Uses

Chemistry

See also

References