Botanical Name :- Garcinia indica (Thouars) Choisy, Family :- Clusiaceae.

Synonyms :- Brindonia oxycarpa Thouars, Garcinia purpurea Roxb. 

Regional Name :- English : Goa butter tree, Kokum butter tree, Hindi : Kokam, Kokum, Vishambil, Sanskrit : Amlabija, Amlapura, Amlashaka, Vrikshamia, Tamil : Murgal, Murgal-mara, Marathi: Amosole, Bheranda, Bhiranda, Ratambi, Kannada : Murgina, Devana huli, Dhoopada mara, Murginahuli-mara, Murinahuli, Murugalu, Malayalam : Kaattampi, Pinampuli, Punampuli, Kokkam, Oriya: Tintali, Gujarati: Kokam, Ratamba, Bengali : Mahada, Kashmiri : Titidika, Telugu : Chinta.

Part Used :- Fruit.

Description :- This species is endemic to Peninsular India. It has been recorded in the tropical rain forests of Western Ghats of Ghats of India, Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Within India Maharashtra (Savantwadi, Vidarbha, Mahabaleshwar, Khandala), Goa, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu (It is reported to flourish well on the lower slopes of Nilgiri hills). It is also often planted. Kokam is a tree with a dense canopy of green leaves and red-tinged tender emerging leaves. It is indigenous to the Western Ghats region of India, along the western coast. The tree is large and handsome, having elliptic, oblong or oblong-lanceolate, deep-green glossy leaves, 5.5-8 cm long and 2.5-3 cm broad. The flowers are fleshy, dark pink, solitary or in spreading cluster. The fruit is brownish or brownish-gray, marbled with yellow, and is crowned by the 4-parted, stalkless stigma. There are from 6 to 8 seeds, and the pulp is juicy, white, and delicious in taste and odour. It is about the size of an orange.

Phytoconstituents :- The main chemical constituents found in kokam are flavonoids, xanthones, lactones, benzophenones, phenolic acids, citric acid, hydroxycitric acid, garcinol and anthocayanins. The fruit also contains Garcinol, Isogarcinol and Comboginol, a polyisoprenylated benzophenone derivative.

Ayurvedic Properties :- Rasa : Amla (sour), Madhura (sweet), Guna : Rooksha (dryness), Guru (heavy to digest), Vipaka : Amla (sour), Virya : Ushna (hot).

Ayurvedic Applications :- Ruchikrut, Rochana, Deepana, Sangrahi, Grahi.

Medicinal Uses :- It is used for treating skin diseases, infections, like allergies, chaffed skin, rashes, burns and scalds. It is also given in heatstroke, dysentery, flatulence, constipation, diarrhoea, pain tumour, piles and heart diseases.