Pankaj Oudhia’s Notes on Garcinia mangostana Linn. [Kirtikar, Kanhoba Ranchoddas, and Baman Das Basu. "Indian Medicinal Plants." Indian Medicinal Plants. (1918)].
Pankaj Oudhia’s Notes on Garcinia
mangostana Linn. [Kirtikar, Kanhoba Ranchoddas, and Baman Das Basu.
"Indian Medicinal Plants." Indian
Medicinal Plants. (1918)].
Pankaj Oudhia
Introduction
Based on Ethnobotanical
surveys since year 1990 in different parts of India Pankaj Oudhia has
documented vital information about Medicinal Plants mentioned in the famous
publication by Kirtikar and Basu (1918). Through this research document Pankaj
Oudhia has tried to present original document with additional notes. For
complete paper with pictures, Interactive Tables, Video and Audio clips please
visit pankajoudhia.com
For original publication by Kirtikar and Basu (1918) please visit https://archive.org/details/indianmedicinalp01kirt
Gareinia Mangostana, Linn., h.f.b.i., i. 260,
Roxb. 441.
Vern. :— Mangustan (Bomb.); Mengkop (Burm.).
Eng. : —The Mangosteen.
Habitat : — Cultivated in some parts of the Madras Presi-
dency, as at Barliyar in the Nilghiri Hills ; Tenasserim.
Malay
Peninsula (doubtfully Avild) Gamble says it has never been
successfully grown in Northern India as it requires, a very
hot,
moist and uniform climate. " Home unknown ; cultivated
in
moist regions of tropical Asia" (Brandis). Found in
Cochin-
China, Java, Singapore.
An evergreen, small, conical tree, 20-30 ft, glabrous.
Branches many and decussate. Under favourable circumstances,
says Brandis, the tree attains 60ft. and more. " Bark
dark
brown or almost charcoal-black, inner bark yellowish. Wood
brick-red, hard. Pores moderate-sized, scanty, single or in
small
groups surrounded by loose tissue, the groups very
irregularly
144
NDIAN MEDICINAL PLANT?
rnn together into more or less concentric patches, sometimes
long and continuous, more often subdivided. Medullary rays
moderately broad, not very numerous, of the same colour as
the
patches'' (Gamble). Leaves thickly coriaceous, 6-10 in. by
2j-4| in.; nerves regular, close inarching, with an
intramarginal
one ; numerous, parallel li alternating with shorter intermediate
nerves (Brandis). Petiole short, thick. Flowers tetramerous,
" bisexual, solitary or in pairs at the ends of
branchiets, 2 in.
diara." (Brandis) Male flower in 3-9-flowered terminal
fas-
cicles ; pedicels short. Sepals orbicular, concave, persistent.
Petals broad, ovate, fleshy ; yellow, red or purple. Stamens
sur-
rounding the rudimentary ovary in four masses ; indefinite ;
filaments slender, flat at the base and sometimes connate,
anthers
ovate-oblong, 2-eelled. Hermaphrodite flowers, 2 in. diam.,
solitary or germinating at the tips of young branches;
pedicels
J in., thick, woody. Sepals and petals as in the Male.
Stamens
many, filaments slender, connate below. Female flower : —
Ovary, 4-8-celled, stigma sessile, thick o-8-lobed, ovate,
solitary.
Fruit, a berry as large as an orange, globose, smooth, dark
purple ; pericarp or rind firm, spongy, thick, full of yellow
resinous juice. Seeds large, flattened, embedded in
snowy-white,
or pinkish delicious pulp, which is botanically called the
aril.
This pulp it is that gives the fruit its value as one of the
finest
fruits of the Eastern Tropics, and one of the most highly
appre-
ciated, delicious products of the Eastern and Western Hemis-
pheres. Flowers from November to February. Fruit ready in
May and June. Pierre has examined more than 1,500 Mangos-
teen trees, without finding a single male flower. But he adds
that several species produce male flowers when young, and
female
flowers at a later age. f Brandis).
1 have seen a tree of this in the Dapoli English Church
(Mission)— K. R. K.
Parts used: — The rind, fruit, bark and leaves. [Pankaj
Oudhia’s Comment: All parts are used as medicine. Even the insects attacking
this species are used as medicine in Traditional Entomophagy and Entomotherapy.]
Use : — The rind is used as an astringent medicine for diar-
rhoea and dysentery. fruit has been found very useful in
chronic
diarrhoea in children by Waring and others. (Ph. Ind. ; p.
31.)
It has also been used as a febrifuge (Dymockj.
N. O. GUTTIFER,£. 145
According to Rumphius, the bark and young leaves are
employed by the Macassars in diarrhoea, dysentery and
affections
of the genito-urinary tracts, and also as a wash for aphthae
of
the mouth.
Tn exhibiting before the Melbourne Medical Congress of
January 1889, a powder and a liquid extract of mangosteen
from
the fruit-rind prepared by the late Mr. M. C. Periera of the
Bom-
bay Medical Stores, Surgeon Major Kirtikar said thus : —
" The
value of these preparations lies in the yellow resin which
the rind
of the fruit contains a character of the fruits of the
Guttifers.
The resin acts like all other resins as a stimulant to the
intes-
tinal canal. I am not sure whether the crystallisable
substance,
mangostine, which Schmidt has obtained from the rind, has any
particular therapeutic property. It is worthy of a trial, as
the
preparations are largely used by the Natives of Western India
in chronic cases of the intestinal canal. Waitz recommends a
decoction of the powdered rind as an external astringent appli-
cation. I have no doubt that the resin adds to the value of
this
local remedy, by mechanically constricting the parts gently —
an
effect very often produced by uniform light bandaging."
(Con-
gress Proceedings, p. 948).
A strong decoction has also been recommended as an exter-
nal astringent application (Watt.)
The fruit is said to have come into use of late years in
European medicine as a substitute for Beel (Watt.)
Mangostin (A) occurs in all parts of the Mangosteen tree. The
dried
fruit-skins contain about h°'o each of a crystalline resin
(A) and non-crystal
resin. (A) was first isolated by Schmidt, who assigned the
formula C 20 H 22 5 .
(A) has the typical resin properties, burning with a smoky,
luminous flame,
causing friction and vibration when rubbed between the
fingers, and dissol-
ving in alkalis, ale, Et 2 0, and many other solvents. (A)
was obtained by
concg. the alk. ext, of the dried skins in vacuo, shaking the
syrupy residue
with H 2 0, and dissolving the dried insol. portion in warm
PhH containing a
little Et 2 0. Recrystd. repeatedly from ale. containing a
little H 2 0, it forms
flat, pale yellow needles, m. 181-2°. The analyses and mol.
wt. detns. in PhO H
and (C0 2 Me) 2 gave results agreeing with C 23 H 24 6 . (A)
is insol. in carbo-
nates, dissolves in alkalies with a red color, and is repptd.
by C0 2 and acids
and gives a greenish brown color with FeCl 3 . It contains 1
MeO and 2
phenolic OH, the latter being shown by titration and by the
action of Me 2 S0 4
and dil. aq. KOH, which yield dimethyl-mavgostin, C 25 H 28
-, faintly yellow,
19
14b' INDIAN MEDICINAL PLANTS
silky needles, m. 123\ [A) and warm HN0 3 gave (C0 2 H) 2 ,
even when HOAc
was used as diluent. Coned. KMN0 4 also gave (C0 2 H) 2 .
Fusion with 5 parts
KOH at about 250 : gave a volatile oil with the odor of
AniOH. The aq.
soln. of the fusion was acidified and extd. with E-t 2 0.
yielding BzOH,
isolated as the Ca salt. In another expt. the aq. soln. of
the fusion
was satd. with C0 2 , shaken out with Et 2 and then with
ale., which did not
mix with the soln. The ale. soln. containing K salts was
evapd., acidified with
H 2 SO^, and distd. with steam. The resulting volatile acids
were purified
through the Ba and Xa salts, and finally sepd. as the Ag
salts. HOAc and
C\ H :j -C0 2 H were found. Boiled with HI for 12 hrs., (A)
yields a substance, C 22
H 22 6 , faintly yellow, silky needles, m. 180-1°, changes
into short rhombs
with identical properties on standing overnight in the
mother-liquors when
erystd. from ale. gives a deep green color in ale. with FeCl
3 ; its methyl
derivative, prepd. with Me 2 S0 4 and aq. KOH containing a
little ale. to
facilitate solu. m. 216° ; the monoacetyl derivative, using
Ac 2 O and NaOAc,
m. 218-9°.— Chemical Abstracts, Aug. 10, 1915 ; p. 2061.
[Pankaj
Oudhia’s Comment: Through Ethnobotanical surveys I have collected
information about over 150,000 Herbal Formulations in which Garcinia is added
as secondary ingredient. These Formulations are popular among the Traditional
Healers for its wound healing properties. In over 50,000 Formulations Garcinia
is added as nonary ingredient. These Formulations are used for treatment of
cancerous wound specially at advanced stage when other remedies fail to give
the desired effects. Garcinia parts are added in over 25000 Formulations as
tertiary ingredient. These Formulations are used for diseases of male and
female genitals. In over 35000 Formulations Garcinia roots are added as quinary
ingredient. These Formulations are used for treatment of diseases of digestive
system. Please see Tables Garcinia-1 to Garcinia-350 for details.]
E-documents on Garcinia
Citation
Oudhia, Pankaj (2013).
Pankaj Oudhia’s Notes on Garcinia mangostana Linn. [Kirtikar, Kanhoba Ranchoddas, and Baman Das Basu.
"Indian Medicinal Plants." Indian
Medicinal Plants. (1918)]. www.pankajoudhia.com
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