Kokum (Garcinia Indica) — Spices of Kerala

March 24th, 2007 | admin

Indian kokum, the sweet and sour spice has both culinary and medicinal applications. Evergreen forests of Western Ghats in the west of Kerala are the main base for this tree. The oil separated from the seeds of the plant has applications in culinary preparations, medicines and cosmetics.

It makes garnishing for different curries. The main markets for Kokum outside India are Middle East, Hong Kong, UK, USA and Australia. It is exported as fruits and oil.

Other names for the tree are – bindin, biran, kokam, panarpuli, red mango, wild mangosteen etc.

Garcinia Indica is in the plant family Clusiaceae.