Herb library · Spice · Garcinia indica
Kokum
The sour purple fruit of a tree of India's Konkan and Goa coast, dried as a souring spice and made into the summer drink sol kadhi; its seed fat is kokum butter. It has not been studied in people on its own.
Traditional use
Kirtikar and Basu's 1918 survey, drawing on Dymock, records that apothecaries of Goa made a purple syrup from the fruit juice for bilious complaints, that the young leaves, stewed in a plantain leaf and rubbed with cold milk, were given for dysentery, and that the solid oil of the seeds was melted and rubbed on cracked lips, hands and sores. Along the Konkan coast the dried rind is a daily souring agent in fish curries and in sol kadhi, a drink of kokum and coconut milk taken after meals, and kokum butter is used in skin balms.
What studies show
No studies in people of this herb on its own yet. What is known of it comes from the traditions that use it.
- Insufficient
Digestion and the other traditional uses: no study of kokum on its own in people was found. The trial found for its best-known compound, garcinol, gave it together with curcumin and piperine.
Be careful of
Cautions
- NoteKokum is a different plant from garcinia cambogia, the weight-loss supplement; the two are not interchangeable. There is little safety information for concentrated kokum extracts.
- PregnancyAs a food it is widely eaten. No safety information for extracts in pregnancy or breastfeeding was found.
- Ask a clinicianTalk with a clinician or pharmacist before using kokum extracts if you take prescription medicines, are pregnant or breastfeeding, or are giving them to a child.
From the old books
What herbals and dispensaries of the past printed. History, in their words.
“The Apothecaries of Goa prepare a very fine purple syrup from the juice of the fruit, which is used in bilious affections.”
Sources
- A scientifically validated combination of garcinol, curcuminoids, and piperine for mild to moderate nonalcoholic steatohepatitis patients: results from a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial (Front Nutr, 2023) — PubMed record (opens in a new tab) · NIH · read September 25, 2026
- Bioactive compounds, bio-functional properties, and food applications of Garcinia indica: A review (J Food Biochem, 2022) — PubMed record (opens in a new tab) · NIH · read September 25, 2026
Reviewed September 25, 2026.