This document provides information on the kokum fruit tree (Garcinia indica). It describes the tree's origin in southern India and distribution in tropical forests. It outlines the tree's taxonomy and classification. The document discusses the culinary, pharmaceutical and industrial uses of kokum fruit, rind and butter. It also describes the tree's sex types, varieties including the high yielding 'Konkan Amrit' variety, challenges around scattered production and short harvesting periods, and opportunities for popularizing kokum-based products.

1. PAWAN NAGAR
M.Sc. (Horti.) Fruit science
REG. NO: 04-2690-2015
Course No: FSC-506
Course Title: Breeding of Fruit crops

2.  Kokam: Garcinia indica
Family: Clausiaceae (syn : Guttiferea)
 Kokam is a slender evergreen small tree with
drooping branches. It is a dioecious tree growing up
to 18 mtr high. The fruit is spherical, purple, not
grooved having 5-8 seeds compressed in an acid
pulp.

3. Kingdom: Plantae
Order: Malpighiales
Family: Clusiaceae
Subfamily: Clusiodieae
Tribe: Garcinieae
Genus: Garcinia
Species: G.indica

4. Uses
 The ripened, rind and juice of Kokam
fruit are commonly used in cooking.
 It is also used as a garnish to give an
acid flavor to curries and for preparing
attractive, red, pleasant flavored cooling
syrup.
 Kokum butter used as an edible fat, is
nutritive, demulcent and antiseptic. The
rind has antioxidant property.
 Kokum is a fruit bearing tree that has
culinary, pharmaceutical, and industrial
uses.

5. ORIGIN AND DISRTIBUTION
 The tree is oriental in origin, found in Southern
India, particularly in the tropical rain forest of
Western Ghats of Ratnagiri, Konkan, Coorg and
Wynadu region.
 It is also found in the evergreen forests of Assam,
Khasi, Jantia hills, West Bengal and Gujarat.
 The crop prefers warm and moderately humid
tropical climate with a total rainfall range of 2500-
5000mm grows under a mean annual temperature of
20-30 degree C, 60-80% humidity and up to an
altitude of 800 mtrs above MSL.

6. SEX TYPE
 The trees could be designated into the following
types on the basis of preponderance of
particular type of flowers and the bearing
tendency of individual tree.
Tree type -1 – Staminate or male :
 The flowers have mostly long pedicels, mass of
stamens crowded on receptacle and sometimes
rudimentary pistil with pointed apex. They are
incapable of producing any fruit and serve as
pollinators only.

7. Tree type- II- Hermaphrodite or bisexual:
 Young fruits produced by the tree are
generally irregular in shape containing 0 to 6
underdeveloped seeds. Yield per tree may
vary from 1 to 3 kg of fruits.
Tree type III- Pistillate or female:
 Flower is identified by short pedicel, well
developed pistil and two or four tufts of
staminodes below. Fruits are round to
globose, dark red when ripe and contain 1 to
7 well developed seeds. Adult tree bears
heavy crop. In a population of 62 trees
observed 37 per cent turned out to be male, 8
per cent bisexual and 55 per cent female.

8.  Scattered production: No organized production
of kokum at present. Most homesteads have a
few trees from which fruits are collected from a
wider area and it adds to the cost of
production.
 Federations/ Cooperative groups, Processing
and marketing federations of collectors and
growers should be formed. Collective farming
system should be adopted.

9.  Short harvesting period: Fruit harvest in kokum is
only for about six weeks in a year, which is a short
period for processing. During the first half of the
summer the demand of kokum has to be met out
of the production of the previous year and then
supplying the production of current year for the
second half.
 Spoilage of the produce: Kokum starts fruiting
from March and it extends until the first week of
June. If it rains during the fruiting season the fruits
will be spoiled. Premonsoon showers will spoil
part of kokum produce.
 Regional and seasonal demand: Though kokum
drink is superior to many synthetic soft drinks in
the market, its use is not known through out India.
It is suggested to popularize kokum drink as a
health drink than a soft drink

10. Varieties
 At KKV, Dapoli, fourteen kokum types with
early maturity, bigger sized fruits and high
yield have been identified.
Konkan Amrit
Released from KKV Dapoli (Dr. B.S. Konkan Krishi
Vidyapeeth.). Konkan Amrit variety fruits are bigger
in size weighing about 30 g.

11. Yellow kokum
 A unique variety of kokum in Uttara Kannada dist. It is
locally called as bili murugalu though the colour is yellow.
It is believed to posses more medicinal properties. Skin
will turn yellow at the time of ripening.Kokum is one of the
important non timber forest produces (NTFPs) collected
from the western ghats of Karnataka. Variety Konkan
Amritha was developed by clonal selection. This variety is
considerably early having short harvesting period
(78days) with a few pluckings. The yield is high
(138.28kg) with medium sized fruits (34.45g) having rind
of 17.55g. Filled seeds were 3.55 per fruit. This variety is
a pure female.

12. REFERENCES
 https://books.google.co.in/books?isbn=818942244
8
 http://ecoursesonline.iasri.res.in/mod/page/view.p
hp?id=102252
 http://ecoursesonline.iasri.res.in/mod/page/view.p
hp?id=102252