Garcinia atroviridis

Garcinia atroviridis

The asam gelugur or asam gelugo, asam keping (Garcinia atroviridis Griff. ex T.Anderson, 1874) is an arboreal species belonging to the Clusiaceae family.

Systematic –
From a systematic point of view it belongs to:
Eukaryota domain,
Kingdom Plantae,
Division Magnoliophyta,
Class Magnoliopsida,
Order Theales,
Clusiaceae family,
Garcinia genus,
Species G. atroviridis.

Etymology –
The term Garcinia was given in honor of the French botanist Laurent Garcin (1683-1751).
The specific epithet comes from the Latin from ater black, dark, dark and viridis verde: in reference to the dark green color of the leaves.

Geographic Distribution and Habitat –
Garcinia atroviridis is a large tree native to an area that includes India (Arunachal Pradesh and Assam), Malaysia, Myanmar, and Sumatra. The plant grows wild throughout but is also widely cultivated, especially in the northern states, for its economic and medicinal value.
Its habitat is commonly that of evergreen rainforests up to about 600 m above sea level.

Description –
Garcinia atroviridis is a dioecious, evergreen tree that reaches a height of over 20 meters.
The trunk is long and has smooth, gray bark and hanging branches.
The leaves are of a glossy dark green color (the young leaves are pinkish in colour), of a leathery consistency, carried on a 1,5-3 cm long petiole, they are simple, opposite, oblong-lanceolate in shape, with entire margin and apex sharply pointed, long and narrow with a pointed tip and raised edges; they are 15-22 cm long and 5-8 cm wide.
The female flowers are located on a 3 cm long peduncle; they are solitary, terminal, of 3,5 cm of diameter, with 4 concave orbicular sepals, of yellow color externally, suffused with red internally, 4 obovate petals with retroflexed apex, fleshy, of dark red colour, and stigma of the same colour.
The male flowers are grouped in short terminal racemes of about 4 cm in length and 1.5 cm in diameter; they have sepals and petals similar to female ones in shape and color, with numerous stamens joined at the base to form a ring.
The flowers are dark red, moreover both the male and female flowers have the organs of the other sex in rudimentary form and in some cases there are hermaphrodite flowers; female plants bear fruit even in the absence of male ones due to parthenocarpy.
The fruits are subglobose berries with 9-16 ribs, 7-10 cm in diameter and about 7 cm in length; they are initially green in color and then yellow when ripe, with persistent sepals and petals at the base and stigma at the apex; the pulp is intense yellow in colour, juicy, with a particularly sour flavour. A ripe fruit can weigh up to 2 kg.
Inside there are numerous flat seeds, 1.4 cm long, surrounded by an orange aryloid.

Cultivation –
Garcinia atroviridis is a tree that grows wild or cultivated and is a popular herbal treatment in Southeast Asia, especially Thailand; it is also occasionally grown in gardens and semi-cultivated in the surrounding forest; currently the products of this plant are becoming popular as a health food and are sold in the markets in different forms such as tea, capsules and fruit slices.
This plant adapts to tropical and subtropical climate zones characterized by a high annual rainfall, of relatively easy cultivation, requires full sun, except in the initial phase of growth, and is not particular about the soil provided it is draining and kept almost constantly humid.
The plant is easily grown with rare pest and disease problems and requires very little care.
It reproduces by seed in a draining substratum rich in organic substance, kept humid at the temperature of 25-28 °C, but grafting is often used in order to be sure of having female plants.

Customs and Traditions –
Garcinia atroviridis is a plant known by various names, among these: asam gelugor, asam potong (Indonesia); asam gelugo, asam keping, assam gelugor (Malaysia); cha muang, cha muang chang, ma kham khaek, rong thong, som khaek, som pha ngun (Thailand).
The fruits of this plant are consumed in various ways. Sun-dried fruit slices, known locally as “asam keping”, are commercially available and are commonly used as salad vegetables and are considered extremely acidic. The fruit is cut into slices, dried and then stewed and used as a common ingredient in Asian dishes such as curries and soups.
The fruits, due to their particularly sour flavor due to the presence of various acids (ascorbic, citric, malic, tartaric and above all hydroxycitric), are not consumed raw, but sliced and dried, they are added to various dishes to give a touch of sour flavour; the young leaves are eaten raw as a salad or cooked. The dried fruits are also used in some locations as a fixative for various natural colors.
Furthermore, since ancient times, the fruit has been used in traditional medicine for various pathologies; laboratory studies have highlighted the presence of bioactive compounds with interesting antioxidant, antihyperlipidemic, anti-inflammatory and anticancer properties in extracts of different parts of the plant.
The fruit contains citric acid, tartaric acid, malic acid and ascorbic acid, hydroxycitric acid and flavonoids.
Among other uses, it is reported that a dense, yellow, usually resinous latex is obtained from the bark, branches and fruits.
The dried fruits are used as fixatives with alum for dyeing silk fabrics.
An extract of the fruit is used as an ingredient in commercial cosmetic preparations as a skin conditioner.
Furthermore, hard wood can find some uses.

Preparation Method –
Garcinia atroviridis is a plant used in its natural state or cultivated mainly for food or medicinal purposes.
The ripe fruits, which are bright orange-yellow in color, are sliced, dried and used in curries or stewed in plenty of sugar for consumption.
The large fruit has a very acidic pulp that can be eaten raw or cooked.
Excellent jellies and compotes are made from it and it can also be dried and added to soups.
The peel of the fruit is used as a sour flavouring, similar to tamarind, in curries, soups, etc.
The young shoots are cooked and used as a vegetable.
In the medicinal field, the dried fruit is used to improve blood circulation, as an expectorant, in the treatment of coughs and as a laxative.
It is believed that the fruit extract can promote good health by reducing blood cholesterol levels and dilating blood vessels, absorbing excess fat, etc. It is commonly used in Southeast Asian diets.
A decoction of leaves and roots is used in the treatment of earache.

Guido Bissanti

Sources
– Acta Plantarum – Flora of the Italian Regions.
– Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
– GBIF, the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.
– Useful Tropical Plants Database.
– Conti F., Abbate G., Alessandrini A., Blasi C. (ed.), 2005. An annotated checklist of the Italian vascular flora, Palombi Editore.
– Pignatti S., 1982. Flora d’Italia, Edagricole, Bologna.
– Treben M., 2000. Health from the Lord’s Pharmacy, Advice and experiences with medicinal herbs, Ennsthaler Editore.

Photo source:
– https://inaturalist-open-data.s3.amazonaws.com/photos/139216646/original.jpg

Attention: Pharmaceutical applications and food uses are indicated for informational purposes only, they do not represent in any way a medical prescription; we therefore decline any responsibility for their use for healing, aesthetic or food purposes.