Garcinia dulcis is a tropical fruit tree native to the Philippines, Java, Lesser Sunda Islands, eastern Indonesia (Sulawesi, Kalimantan, and the Maluku Islands), New Guinea and Queensland. It was domesticated early and spread inland into mainland Asia.
The tree is harvested from the wild as a local source of food, medicine or dyeing material and is sometimes cultivated for its fruit, which is occasionally sold locally. Garcinia dulcis is not grown commercially.
Description
Garcinia dulcis is an
evergreen tree with horizontal branches and a dense, pyramidal crown. It can grow up to 15 metres tall and has a short, straight trunk, which can develop to a size of 30 cm in diameter. The tree grows best in areas where annual daytime temperatures are within the range of 22–30 °C and is well adapted to shade and humid conditions. Flowering usually occurs twice a year after long periods of drought.
Uses
The orange coloured fruits can be eaten fresh; they contain a sour, juicy pulp, which can be preserved into jam. Green dye can be obtained from the bark, when mixed with
indigo it gives a brown colour which is used to dye mats. From the unripe fruits a yellow dye, called
gamboge, can be extracted, but is considered inferior to other dyes from members of the same genus like
Garcinia xanthochymus.
Garcinia dulcis also has medicinal purposes; it can be used for the treatment of wounds or
scurvy.
Testing on rats has indicated that the fruit's rind could have use as a treatment for metabolic syndrome.
See also
