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Garcinia cowa

Summary

Garcinia cowa is also known as cowa fruit or cowa mangosteen. It was locally known as kau thekera in Assamese, kowa in Bengali, Malayalam, and kau in Manipuri. It was an evergreen plant with edible fruit native to Asia, India, and Bangladesh. The tree was harvested from the wild for its edible fruits and leaves, which are used locally. The flowers are yellow, and the male and female flowers are separated. In East India fruits are used for the treatment of dysentery. Moreover, fruits and leaves improve blood circulation as an expectorant for coughs and indigestion.

Mode of Consumption: Mostly consumed Raw, Used to prepare Juice, Jam, Pickles Dried fruits etc
Plant Details Agro-climatic Zone Vernacular Names Pictures
Scientific Name: Garcinia cowa Juss.
Family: Clusiaceae ex Bercht. & J. Presl
Class: Dicotyledons
Order: Malpighiales
Genus: Garcinia L.
Fruiting Season: December to February
Fruting Condition: Ripe
  • Eastern Himalayan Region
  • West Coast Plains and Ghat Region
  • Lower Gangetic Plains Region

 Assam : Kau thekera
Kerala : Kowa
Manipur : Kau
West Bengal : Kowa
Compound/Chemical Immunomodulatory Activity Pathway Immunomodulatory Marker
Dried fruit extractAnti-oxidant activityMethanol extract of dried fruit showed a significant anti-oxidant activity at a dose level 50 µl to 700 µl [3][4]
Dried fruit extractAnti-oxidant activityHexane and chloroform extract of dried fruit showed a potential radical scavenging activity through beta carotene linoleate model system[3][4]
Isolated compounds alpha mangostin, rubraxanthone, tetraprenyltoluquinoneAnti-inflamatory activityIsolated compournds such as, alpha mangostin exhibited strong anti-inflammatory activity without inducing severe cytotoxicity at 50 μM. Rubraxanthone showed weak inhibition of NO while Tetraprenyltoluquinone also showed the strong inhibition of NO and this compound also induced severe cytotoxicity.Inhibition NO synthesis, IFN-gamma[5]
Major Class Metabolites
Butenolides derivativesAscorbic acid(Whole fruit)
Carboxylic acid derivativesOxalic acid(Whole fruit)
tricarboxylic acids derivativesHydroxycitric acid lactone(Whole fruit)
Traditional Practice Diseases Plant Part Additional Knowledge
04.1.2.5
Incompatible with Milk, Curd and cheese
References
CSIR-North East Institute of Science and Technology, Jorhat-6, Assam, India
CSIR-Institute of Himalayan Bioresource Technology, Palampur-61,Himachal Pradesh, India