Kokum

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Chapter: Pharmacognosy and Phytochemistry : Drugs Containing Lipids

Kokum is the fat obtained by expression from the seeds of Garcinia indica or G. purpurea, belonging to family Guttiferae.


KOKUM

 

Synonyms

 

Goa butter, kokum butter, kokum oil, mangosteen oil.

 

Biological Source

 

Kokum is the fat obtained by expression from the seeds of Garcinia indica or G. purpurea, belonging to family Guttiferae.

 

Geographical Source

 

The trees are grown in Thailand, Cambodia, China, and India. In India it is cultivated in Malabar, Konkan, Western Ghats, and Canara.

 

Preparation

 

Fruits are collected, dried, and seeds are separated. The kernels from the seeds are churned, and it is then boiled with water. The melted fat is separated by skimming process and washed with hot water. Then the fat is decolourized.

 

Characteristics

 

Kokum is light grey to yellow in colour, very mild odour, with sweet sour taste. The marketed kokum have an egg shape. Butter is solid at room temperature, but melts readily on contact with the skin with melting point 39°C to 42°C. Refractive index varies from 1.4565 to 1.4575, Saponification value is 185–190 and Acid value not more than 3.

 


 

Chemical Constituents

 

Seeds contain 30% fat. Kokum consists of glyceride of stearic acid (55%), oleic acids (40%), palmitic acid (2.5%), hydroxyl capric acid (10%), and linoleic acid (1.5%).

 

Uses

 

Kokum butter is used as nutritive, demulcent, astringent, emollient, in dysentery, and mucous diarrhoea. It is also used in skin diseases, has wound healing property, as a base in ointment, suppository, creams, lotions, balms, and make-up foundations.

 

Marketed Products

 

It is one of the ingredients of the preparation known as Bioslim (Sunova Pharma Pvt. Ltd.).

 

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