Kokum

The scientific name for Kokum is Garcinia Indica. This belongs to the class of Indian fruits or spice tree and is one of the major crops grown in India. The crop is majorly grown in the region with humid and tropical conditions. The best soil that is beneficiary for growing this crop is lateritic kind of soil and the crop can even be grown in rocky terrains. The crop can be grown in the areas with extreme drought conditions to areas with high water logging areas. The months in which this fruit is born are from April to June.

The varieties of Kokum are Konkan Amruta and Konkan Hatis that have been recognized by ICAR RC located at Goa.

The major yielders of Kokum are Kharekhazan, Borim, Kasarpal, Parashte and Pednem Keri.

This crop belongs to the category 200 traditional old species out of which 20 of these species form part of species grown in India. This is species used for making of Ayurvedic medicines that is known as “Red Mango”.

This is one of the native tree spices of the country and the size of the spices is seen from normal size to huge size that is grown majorly in the deciduous kinds of trees that have floppy branches that can be seen at a height of 800 meters from sea level. The shape of the leaves on this tree are generally lozenge with dark green color on the upper part of leave while pale color on the bottom part of the leave. The Kokum flowers are retiring kind while the Kokum fruit are generally rotund and are dark purple in color when the fruits ripe that have huge seeds numbering five to eight.

Methods of Growing Kokum

To grow this fruit, the field must be scrupulously ploughed. The field must be dug with the pits each with the size of approximately 60 cubical centimeters. Later, after the seeds are weathered the pits must be refilled with 10 kilograms of FYM along with the dugout soil.

The plantation of the seed is done mostly on the arrival of monsoon season and a thorough care must be taken such that the implantation must happen at a height of 15 cm above ground level. On completion of plantation, the soil seen around the roots of the plant must be tightly pressed and the scions have to be ventured via strapping with dowel and ropes. A spacing of 5 to 6 meters must be done between the scion for planting the plants and the grafting rows.

The grafts of the Kokum starts springing after fourth or the fifth year after the plantation while the seedlings can be seen only after 7 to 8 years. A total of 50 to 60 kg of fruits can be seen bearing each year.

The flowers on the Kokum tree can be seen from the month of November or December while the Kokum fruits can be harvested in the months of April or May.

Areas of Kokum

The areas where the Kokum trees are seen are the coastal rocky regions in the states of Goa and Maharashtra and are referred to as “Ratamba” while these are also seen in the areas of forest of Karnataka’s western ghat, areas of Kerala and western part of Mumbai. The Kokum tree can also be seen in the states of West Bengal, Gujarat and Assam.

Uses of Kokum

1. Culinary Usage: - The outer shell of the dried Kokum fruit is named as “aamsul” and this sun dried Kokum is little sour in taste that is majorly used in the Maharashtrian cuisine. The flavor of the Kokum species is very typical and generally gives blackish red color. It can be majorly used as an alternate to tamarind that is majorly part of dishes of Konkan area. The other usage of Konkan species is in Gujarat food to add tartness to the dal preparation and is also at times used in the preparation of few South Indian dishes.
2. The other usage of the Kokum seed is in preparation of Kokum squash that is beneficial for digestion and helps cooling the body in summer season. This drink is popularly known as Kokum Sherbet and has bright red color.

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