Western Ghats Kokum Foundation - Organic Farming Association of ...

Acknowledgement
We acknowledge with gratitude the gift of the plant species that the Botanists have
named as Garcinia indica and the people affectionately know in their own native tongues as
Goa butter tree, kokum butter tree, mangosteen oil tree, kokum, bheranda, bhiranda,
kokamba, kokambi, ratamba, ratambi, tambada amba murgal, murgal-mara, kaattampi
kokkam, murgina, punarpuli, devana huli, tintali, kokam, bhirind, kokam, vrikshamia,
amlabija, amlapura, amlashaka. In French, Italian and Spanish the name is spelt as cocum
and in Portuguese it is known as brindao or brindonna. Whether one believes in creation or
in evolution, trees came before human beings.
The people of the Konkan who discovered uses for the fruit rind, pulp and seed, and
built up the tradition of having it as a part of the daily meal, undoubtedly helped to
perpetuate the tree species through cultivation of the tree for domestic consumption.
Those who raised seedlings and spread them across the region have helped generate and
preserve the vast plant diversity that exists in Garcinia indica today. We are grateful to them
for giving mankind the plant diversity from which to develop elite selections and hybrids as
per the requirements of the present day.
Our special thanks go to the farmers and scientists who brought different types of
Garcinia indica fruits, dried rind, juice, syrup, agall (juice in brine), aerated Ready-To-Drink
beverage, Kokum butter and other products to the first National Seminar on Kokum held at
Regional Fruit Research Station, Vengurla, of the Dr. Balasaheb Sawant Konkan Krishi
Vidyapeeth (Konkan Agriculture University), Dapoli, Maharashtra, in 2001. These and the
papers presented on the occasion, formed the strong foundation on which grew the
Western Ghats Kokum Foundation to facilitate two more national seminars, produce a
compendium and to attempt this Resource Book.
The participants in the second and third National Seminar on Kokum, scientists,
farmers, processors, equipment manufacturers, bankers, journalists and others have
contributed to the development of the pool of knowledge from where we have drawn
deeply to produce this Resource Book. After the 1st National Seminar on Kokum new
selections of Kokum varieties have been made and propagated, new equipment for cutting ,
juice extraction, powdering drying and packing of Kokum products have been developed. It
is gratifying to note that new range of Kokum products have been developed and
successfully marketed during the last decade.
We acknowledge the role of the internet in providing access to information that
would otherwise have remained inaccessible in different parts of the world, and also for
easy communication with the various contributors via email.
The National Horticulture Mission, Government of India, has supported the national
seminars through the Directorate of Agriculture, Goa. The NABARD, State Bank of India,
Sesa Goa Ltd, MCX and other donors have generously supported the activities of the
Western Ghats Kokum Foundation. The Indian Council for Agricultural Research has
supported the knowledge base through ICAR-Goa Research Complex and Dr. Balasaheb
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Resource Book on Kokum (Garcinia indica Choisy)
Western Ghats Kokum Foundation, Panaji - Goa