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Garciniagummi-gutta is a tropical species of Garcinia native to Indonesia. Common names includegarcinia cambogia (a former scientific name), as well as gambooge,brindleberry, brindall berry, Malabar tamarind, assam fruit, vadakkan puli(northern tamarind) and kudam puli (pot tamarind). This fruit looks like asmall pumpkin and is green to pale yellow in color.

Cooking

Garciniagummi-gutta is used in cooking, including in the preparation of curries. Thefruit rind and extracts of Garcinia species are called for in many traditionalrecipes, and various species of Garcinia are used similarly in food preparationin Assam (India), Thailand,Malaysia, Burma and otherSoutheast Asian countries. In the Indian Ayurvedic medicine, "sour"flavors are said to activate digestion. The extract and rind of Garciniagummi-gutta is a curry condiment in India. It is an essential souringingredient in the Southern Thai variant of kaeng som, a sour curry.

Garciniagummi-gutta is employed commercially in fish curing, especially in Sri Lanka (Colombocuring) and South India, which makes use ofthe antibacterial qualities of the fruit.

The treescan be found in forested areas and also are protected in plantations otherwisegiven over to pepper, spice, and coffee production.

Traditionalmedicine

Asidefrom its use in food preparation and preservation, extracts of G. gummi-guttaare sometimes used in traditional medicine as purgatives.The fruit rind is alsoused to make medicine.

Weightloss

In late2012, a United Statestelevision personality, Dr. Oz, promoted Garcinia cambogia extract as a"magic" weight-loss aid. Dr. Oz's previous endorsements have oftenled to a substantial increase in consumer interest in the promoted products.However, clinical trials do not support claims that Garcinia cambogia is aneffective weight-loss aid. A meta-analysis found a possible small, short-termweight loss effect (under 1 kilogram). However, side effects—namelyhepatotoxicity—led to one preparation being withdrawn from the market.