One of such dietary supplement is Garcinia indica choisy, commonly known as Kokam which is generally found in Western Ghats of India. Kokam is used as condiment in making many Indian cuisines (Yamaguchi et al. 2000). 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. 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). Pharmacological studies reveal its possibility to use clinically as cardiotonic (Hemshekhar et al. 2011), hepato-tonic (Deore et al. 2011), anti-inflammatory activity (Khatib et al. 2010), anti-bacterial, anti-fungal (Chatterjee et al. 2005; Varalakshmi et al. 2010), anti-cancer (Ding et al. 2006; Elisia and Kitts 2008), anti-obesity (Darji et al. 2010; Preuss et al. 2004), antioxidant (Ding et al. 2006; Selvi et al. 2003), neuroprotective effect (Antala et al. 2012), and hypoglycemic activity (Yamaguchi et al. 2000). Phytoconstituents present in G. indica include bezophenones, flavonoids, phenolic acids, lactones, and xanthones (Selvi et al. 2003). Leaves consist of citric acid, hydroxycitric acid lactones, and large amount of l-leucine (Jayaprakasha and Sakariah 2002). Kokam fruit is also rich in organic acid content such as malic acid, citric acid, acetic acid, ascorbic acid, hydroxycitric acid, and garcinol. 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).
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).
In the present research work, anxiolytic and antidepressant activity of Kokam as functional food was investigated in rodents by studying behavioral and biochemical parameters. To the best of our knowledge and thorough literature review, Kokam as functional food has not yet been explored for psychological disarray.