Health Benefits of Kokum Fruit

Garcinia Indica is a deep purple color fruit. It is popularly known as "Kokum" in India. The natural outer cover of the fruit is dried and used as a spice. It gives out tangy flavor since it contains citric acid, acetic acid, hydroxycitric acid, ascorbic acid, malic acid and garcinol.

Kokum juice is very popular in India especially during hot  summer. It is delicious and has a cooling effect on the body. It is very refreshing drink. It not only quenches your thirst, but also helps to prevents dehydration and sunstroke due to heat.

The other names of Kokum:-

  • French: Cocum
  • German: Kokam
  • Italian: Cocum
  • Indian: Kokam/Kokum

Kokum has several health benefits. It is used as a natural home-made remedy for various ailments. The benefits are:-

  1. The Traditional Ayurvedic medicine use this fruit to treat skin ailments such as allergic, rashes, burns and other skin related problems. Since it has soothing effect on the body, it can be applied directly to wounds and infected areas of the skin to hasten the healing process.
  2. Kokum juice improves the digestion and appetite. It is also used to treat piles and dysentery.
  3. It helps to reduce fever and allergic reactions.
  4. Kokum fruit is rich in antioxidant.
  5. Kokum butter which is also a product of kokum fruit is used widely in pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries to treat dry, chapped and sensitive skin, etc. It is a popular skin moisturizer.
  6. Kokum aids to weight loss.
  7. It also strengthens the cardio-vascular system and stabilize liver function.
  8. It has anthelmintic and anti-ulcer properties.
  9. It can relieve you from gastric problems like acidity, flatulence, constipation and indigestion.
  10. Stops vomiting sensations.
  11. It is low in calories and contains no saturated fats or cholesterol and is rich in dietary fibre.
  12. Fresh kokum fruit is a rich source of B-complex vitamins such as thiamin, niacin and folates.
  13. According to some Research, garcinol has antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties and hence it can inhibit intestinal cancer cell growth. This garcinol is present in kokum fruit.

 You can either buy ready made kokum juice bottles or purchase its dry rind from the market and prepare your own home made drink by soaking it in water for few hours, remove the dry rind, add some sugar in the water and your drink is ready. You can add some ice cube if you want to.
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