The tree is harvested from the wild as a local source of food, medicine or dyeing material and is sometimes cultivated for its fruit, which is occasionally sold locally. Garcinia dulcis is not grown commercially.[citation needed]
Description
Garcinia dulcis is an evergreen tree with horizontal branches and a dense, pyramidal crown. It can grow up to 15 metres tall and has a short, straight trunk, which can develop to a size of 30 cm in diameter. The tree grows best in areas where annual daytime temperatures are within the range of 22–30 °C and is well adapted to shade and humid conditions. Flowering usually occurs twice a year after long periods of drought.[7]
Uses
The orange coloured fruits can be eaten fresh; they contain a sour, juicy pulp, which can be preserved into jam. Green dye can be obtained from the bark, when mixed with indigo it gives a brown colour which is used to dye mats. From the unripe fruits a yellow dye, called gamboge, can be extracted, but is considered inferior to other dyes from members of the same genus like Garcinia xanthochymus. Garcinia dulcis also has medicinal purposes; it can be used for the treatment of wounds or scurvy.[7] Testing on rats has indicated that the fruit's rind could have use as a treatment for metabolic syndrome.[8]
^ abBlench, Roger (2008). "A History of Fruits in the Southeast Asian Mainland". In Osada, Toshiki; Uesugi, Akinori (eds.). Occasional Paper 4: Linguistics, Archaeology and the Human Past. Indus Project, Research Institute for Humanity and Nature. pp. 115–137.
