Garcinia morella on:
[Wikipedia]
[Google]
[Amazon]
''Garcinia morella'' is a species of tree in the family
''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 of plants including 13 genera and ca 750 species. Several former members of Clusiacae are now placed in Calophyllaceae and Hypericaceae. ...
found in India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
, and Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
.
Common names
* Assamese: Kũzi Thekera (কুঁঁজী ঠেকেৰা) *English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
: ''gamboge'' (Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
), ''gamboge'' (India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
)
*Tamil
Tamil may refer to:
* Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia
**Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils
**Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia
* Tamil language, nativ ...
: ''iravasinni'' (இரேவற்சின்னி), ''makki''
*Malayalam
Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 22 scheduled languages of India. Malayalam was des ...
: ''iravi'', ''chigiri''
*Kannada
Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, with minorities in all neighbouring states. It has around 47 million native s ...
: ''ardala'', ''devana huli'', ''jirigehuli'', ''murina huli'', ''ponpuli'', 'dirakala hannu'
*Sinhalese
Sinhala may refer to:
* Something of or related to the Sinhalese people of Sri Lanka
* Sinhalese people
* Sinhala language, one of the three official languages used in Sri Lanka
* Sinhala script, a writing system for the Sinhala language
** Sinha ...
: ''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 showinflorescence
An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed o ...
and are dioecious
Dioecy (; ; adj. dioecious , ) is a characteristic of a species, meaning that it has distinct individual organisms (unisexual) that produce male or female gametes, either directly (in animals) or indirectly (in seed plants). Dioecious reproductio ...
; 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 askokum
''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 primarily grows in the Western Ghats, especially the Goa and Konka ...
(which is prevalent in the Indian west coast) or garcinia pedunculata
''Garcinia pedunculata'', popularly known as Bor Thekera (বৰ ঠেকেৰা) in Assamese, is an evergreen tree related to the more familiar purple mangosteen (''Garcinia mangostana''). The tree is endemic to the south-eastern regions of ...
, the fruit can be preserved by slicing into thin pieces and then drying under sun. It can be made into pickles. Bodos
Boro (बर'/बड़ो ), also called Bodo, is the largest ethnolinguistic group in the Assam state of India. They are a part of the greater Bodo-Kachari family of ethnolinguistic groups and are spread across northeastern India. They are ...
cook the unripe fruit as vegetable with fish. A chutney
A chutney is a spread in the 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 or mint dipping sauce.
...
can be made by boiling the fruit. In Assam
Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...
, 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 (UK pronunciation: , US: ), 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 ...
. In Ayurveda
Ayurveda () is an alternative medicine system with historical roots in the Indian subcontinent. The theory and practice of Ayurveda is pseudoscientific. Ayurveda is heavily practiced in India and Nepal, where around 80% of the population repo ...
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 partially transparent deep saffron to mustard yellow pigment.Other forms and spellings are: cambodia, cambogium, camboge, cambugium, gambaugium, gambogia, gambozia, gamboidea, gambogium, gumbouge, gambouge, gamboge, gambooge, g ...
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 tropical lands surrounding the Indian Ocean. Its origin is uncertain due to widespread prehistoric cultivation. ...
(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
Thexanthonoid
A xanthonoid is a chemical natural phenolic compound formed from the xanthone backbone. Many members of the Clusiaceae contain xanthonoids.
Xanthonoid biosynthesis in cell cultures of ''Hypericum androsaemum'' involves the presence of a benzophen ...
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,
See also
*''Garcinia binucao
''Garcinia binucao'' is a species of flowering plant in the Clusiaceae family. It is commonly known as binukaw or batuan, is a species of ''Garcinia'' endemic to the Philippines. It is not cultivated, though its edible fruits are harvested from ...
''
*''Garcinia dulcis
''Garcinia dulcis'' is a tropical fruit tree native to the Philippines, Java, Lesser Sunda Islands, eastern Indonesia (Sulawesi, Kalimantan, and the Maluku Islands), and Papua New Guinea. It was domesticated early and spread inland into mainland ...
''
*''Garcinia gummi-gutta
''Garcinia gummi-gutta'' is a tropical species of ''Garcinia'' native to South Asia and Southeast Asia. Common names include ''Garcinia cambogia'' (a former scientific name), as well as brindle berry, and Malabar tamarind. The fruit looks like ...
''
References
morella Plant dyes {{Clusiaceae-stub