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Garcinia gummi-gutta
Garcinia gummi-gutta is a tropical evergreen tree from the Western Ghats of India, grown mainly for its small pumpkin-shaped sour fruit. It needs warm, humid conditions and a seasonal dry spell; in cultivation it is a large tree better suited to outdoor or greenhouse growing than as a houseplant.
Garcinia gummi-gutta is a tropical species of Garcinia native to India. Common names include Garcinia cambogia (a former scientific name), as well as brindle berry, and Malabar tamarind. It is a tree which grows up to 20 metres tall. The fruit looks like a small pumpkin and is green to pale yellow in color. The species is native to the central and southern Western Ghats of Goa, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, and Tamil Nadu states in southwestern India. It grows in lowland and montane moist evergreen forest, generally as an understorey tree along stream banks, up to 1,800 metres (5,910 ft) elevation. It has been introduced or is in cultivation elsewhere in India and Southeast Asia.
Garcinia gummi-gutta is grown for its fruit in Southeast Asia and South Asia. Garcinia gummi-gutta is one of several closely related Garcinia species from the plant family Clusiaceae. With thin skin and deep vertical lobes, the fruit of G. gummi-gutta and related species range from about the size of an orange to that of a grapefruit; G. gummi-gutta looks more like a small yellowish, greenish, or sometimes reddish pumpkin. The color can vary considerably. When the rinds are dried and cured in preparation for storage and extraction, they are dark brown or black in color.
Garcinia gummi-gutta is used in cooking, including in the preparation of curries to add a sour flavor. The fruit rind and extracts of Garcinia species are used in many traditional recipes used in food preparation in Southeast Asian countries. In the Indian Ayurvedic medicine, "sour" flavors are said to activate digestion. The extract and rind of G. gummi-gutta is a curry condiment in India. It is an essential souring ingredient in the southern Thai variant of kaeng som, a sour curry. In southwest India, the Coorg people make a vinegar known as kachampuli from the species' fruit.
Garcinia assamica · Garcinia atroviridis · Indian Gamboge Tree · Garcinia celebica · Brindal Berry · Gourka · Garcinia forbesii · Achacha · Hanbury's garcinia · Wild Mammee · Garcinia · Garcinia
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Garcinia gummi-gutta by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
