One of such dietary supplement is [[File:Kokam.jpg|thumb|350px|left|CGarcinia indica]]Other Names : Garcinia indica choisy, commonly Bindin, Biran, Bhirand, Bhinda, Katambi, Panarpuli, Ratamba or Amsool. In English language, it is also known by various names such as Kokam which is generally found in Western Ghats Mangosteen, wild Mangosteen, or Red Mango.The plant grows extensively on the western coast of India.
==Health Benefits and Uses of Kokam==
All parts of Kokam, i.e., fruit, rind, seed, etc., have plenty of health benefits.
* Its various kinds of drinks are very beneficial and most liked by the people of South India.
* The Garcinia indica seed contains 23-26% oil, which remains solid at room temperature and is used in the preparation of chocolates, medicines and cosmetics. It is used as a slightly bitter spice in recipes from the state of Maharashtra in India and as a souring agent and a substitute for tamarind paste in Indian curries.
* Some industries have started extracting hydroxycitric acid (HCA) from the rind of the fruit which is an important constituent used as a hypocholesterolaemic agent. HCA is also a potential anti-obesity agent. It suppresses fatty acid synthesis, lipogenesis, and food intake, and thus induces weight loss. Kokum Butter is an excellent emollient used by the cosmetic industry for preparations of lotions, creams, lip-balms and soaps.
* It provides cooling effect and prevents from heat stroke (Malik et al. 2005). The conventional uses of Kokam encompass mainly as sharbat (a sweet drink), acidulant in many Indian dishes, tumor, edema, gastric problems, burns, and irregular menstruation (Kunnumakkara et al. 2009; Mayura et al. 2014; Nayak and Rastogi 2010; Swami et al. 2014).
* Due to its anorectic properties, Kokam juice is utilized as weight loss supplement as well (Swami et al. 2014).
* In addition, Kokam rind contains pigment as a mixture of two anthocyanins, namely, cyanidin-3-sambubioside and cyanidin-3-glucoside (Krishnamurthy et al. 1982).
* The main component of rind of Kokam is garcinol, isogarcinol, and camboginol, while the ripened rind contains hydroxyacetic acid and hydroxycitric acid (HCA) along with (Jagtap et al. 2015; Parle and Dhamija 2013a).
* Anticancer activity : The effects of garcinol and its oxidative derivatives have been investigated on the growth of HT-29 and HCT-116 colon cancer cells, as well as IEC-6 and INT-407 which are the normal immortalized intestinal cells [33]. Garcinol and its derivatives showed potent growth-inhibitory effects on all intestinal cells, with IC50 values in the range of 3.2-21.4 μM after 72 hr treatment. Garcinol was found to be more effective in inhibiting growth of cancer cells than that of normal immortalized cells.
* Anti-HIV Activity
* Anti-ulcer activity : Garcinol has potent free radical scavenging activity as judged from its interactions in three types of free radical generating systems. Its scavenging activity against hydroxyl radical has been found to be stronger than that of α-Tocopherol while its other scavenging activities were found to be slightly weaker. Since hydroxyl radical is regarded as the most damaging Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS), garcinol is expected to be useful for preventing diseases caused by the hydroxyl radical damages such as stress-induced gastric ulcer. research has shown that this compound could become a viable alternative to the antibiotics used in the treatment of Helicobacter pylori infection (ulcers) as it is developing resistance to the current drugs. As far as the anti-carcinogenic property of Garcinol is concerned, it is particularly helpful in cases of intestinal, colorectal and pancreatic cancers. Garcinia Indica has also exhibited good anti-tumour activity against human leukaemia HL-60 cells. As an antioxidant, Garcinol is a voracious free radical scavenger and has been found to be beneficial against ulcers, which can be caused by Helicobacter pylori infection.
* A vast range of health benefits of various parts of Kokam justifies its exploration as a suitable functional food for neuroprotection in mental health disorders. Moreover, its isolated constituents such as garcinol, hydroxycitric acid, and Cyanidin-3-glucoside, were also effective in neuroprotection (Antala et al. 2012; Chen et al. 2009; Liao et al. 2005; Ohia et al. 2000).
* used as condiment in making many Indian cuisines (Yamaguchi et al. 2000).
* anxiolytic and antidepressant activity.
==References==
* Ding M, Feng R, Wang SY, Bowman L, Lu Y, Qian Y, Castranova V, Jiang BH, Shi X. Cyanidin-3-glucoside, a natural product derived from blackberry, exhibits chemopreventive and chemotherapeutic activity. J Biol Chem. 2006;281:17359–17368. doi: 10.1074/jbc.M600861200.
*Yadav AV, Kawale LA, Nade VS. Effect of Morus alba L. (mulberry) leaves on anxiety in mice. Indian J Pharmacol. 2008;40:32–36. doi: 10.4103/0253-7613.40485.
*Yamaguchi F, Ariga T, Yoshimura Y, Nakazawa H. Antioxidative and anti-glycation activity of garcinol from Garcinia indica fruit rind. J Agric Food Chem. 2000;48:180–185. doi: 10.1021/jf990845y.
* https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2743703/
*https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5462661/
[[Category:Treatments]]
[[Category:Herbal medicine]]