''Garcinia cowa'', commonly known as cowa fruit or cowa mangosteen is an evergreen plant with edible fruit native to Asia, India, Bangladesh,

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...

, Malaysia, Vietnam,

Laos Laos (, ''Lāo'' )), officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic ( Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ, French: République démocratique populaire lao), is a socialist ...

, Cambodia, and southwest China. The tree is harvested from the wild for its edible fruits and leaves, which are used locally. Flowers are yellow, male & female flowers are separated. It is locally known as Kau Thekera (কাও থেকেৰা) in

Assamese Assamese may refer to: * Assamese people, a socio-ethnolinguistic identity of north-eastern India * People of Assam, multi-ethnic, multi-linguistic and multi-religious people of Assam * Assamese language, one of the easternmost Indo-Aryan language ...

, ''Kowa'' in Bengali and Malayalam, ''Kau'' in Manipuri.

Uses

Folk medicine

In Thailand ''Garcinia cowa'' has been used in the local folk medicine, the bark as an antipyretic and antimicrobial, the latex as an antipuretic, and the fruits and leaves to improve blood circulation, as an expectorant for coughs and indigestion, and a laxative. The roots are believed to relieve fevers, and in East India, sun-dried slices of the fruit have been used as a treatment for dysentery.

Anti-malarial

Studies have found that the bark contains five

xanthones Xanthone is an organic compound with the molecular formula O 6H4sub>2CO. It is a white solid. In 1939, xanthone was introduced as an insecticide and it currently finds uses as ovicide for codling moth eggs and as a larvicide. Xanthone is also ...

with

anti-malarial Antimalarial medications or simply antimalarials are a type of antiparasitic chemical agent, often naturally derived, that can be used to treat or to prevent malaria, in the latter case, most often aiming at two susceptible target groups, young c ...

properties ''in vitro'' against ''

Plasmodium falciparum ''Plasmodium falciparum'' is a Unicellular organism, unicellular protozoan parasite of humans, and the deadliest species of ''Plasmodium'' that causes malaria in humans. The parasite is transmitted through the bite of a female ''Anopheles'' mosqu ...

''.

Dyes and resins

The bark is also used to produce a yellow

dye A dye is a colored substance that chemically bonds to the substrate to which it is being applied. This distinguishes dyes from pigments which do not chemically bind to the material they color. Dye is generally applied in an aqueous solution an ...

for clothes. The gum resin is used in varnishes.

References

Edible fruits Fruits originating in Asia cowa Tropical fruit Crops Fruit trees Plant dyes {{Clusiaceae-stub

Uses

Folk medicine

Anti-malarial

Dyes and resins

See also

References