Diversity and Commercialization of Garcinia atroviridis (asam gelugor)

Diversity and Commercialization of Garcinia
atroviridis (asam gelugor) in Malaysia
Muhammad Shafie, Md Sah
Salma, I., Roslina, A., Norhayati, M.H. & Mohd Nizam, A.
shafiems@mardi.gov.my
Genebank and Seed Centre
MARDI
Introduction – Asam Gelugor
Guttiferae ; Garcinia atroviridis
Griff.
Canopy : Conical, semi spherical
Height : Up to 25 m
Bark surface : slightly rough
Leaves : elliptic or oblong, glossy
Branching, growth;
Plagiotropic branch (ventrical
growth)
Orthotopic growth (erect)
• Dioecius plant; male &
female flower borne in
separate tree
• Inflorescence: terminal /
auxillary, cluster / solitary
• Flower : red colour,
scented / unscented
• Shape :
– Round and small
– Round and big (>500g)
– Oblong
– Ovoid
• Weight : 300g – 500g
• Segmented to fairly segment
• Flesh : yellow, sour, firm in
texture
• Variation;
– Segmentation surronding
stigma lobe
– Fruit segment
Map showing distribution of
Garcinia species
Kota Belud
Papar
Yan
Sibuti
Bukit.
Gantang
Serian
Production
system
Agroforestry
Homegarden / mixed
orchard
Total number of trees per species per site
Species
Garcinia mangostana
Garcinia atroviridis
Garcinia forbesii
Garcinia cowa
G. cowa
Bukit
Gantang
1677
536
0
0
Yan
1057
78
0
0
Kota
Belud
35
0
0
0
Papar
Serian
Sibuti
164
0
233
2
73
0
0
0
39
0
25
24
G. forbesii
Species
Site
Total number of
trees
Average number
of trees per HH
Community
Richness
Average richness
per HH
Average
Household
Evenness
(Simpson)
Community
Evenness
(Simpson)
Divergence
Community
Garcinia atroviridis
Bukit
Yan
Gantang
78
536
1.50
10.27
1
1
1.00
1.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
none
none
Distribution and diversity of G.
atroviridis in Malaysia
Yan
Bukit
Gantang
Traditional Knowledges
Asam gelugor
 High blood pressure
 Diabetis
 Treating itchiness
 Flavouring of dishes
 Young leaves used as salad/ulam
 Matured leaves are made into tea
leaves for slimming
 Antibacteria
 Cleaning brass or metal
 Post natal treatment
Utilization of asam gelugor
Current status
• Higher demands from market for;
– Dried gelugor (asam keping)
– Fresh fruit
– Diversity of product developed from gelugor fruit / leaves
– Planting materials
• Manually harvesting
– High labour cost
– Risk of poor fruit quality; due to harvesting
• Market price not fix, depends on supply
– Fresh fruit
– Dried gelugor (asam keping)
 Dried gelugor
• Important ingredient in most
of Malaysian dishes 0 sour
taste
• Popular dish – laksa, curry
• Drying process;
• Traditionally – sun dried
• Modern – solar drier
house
• Quality based on
appearance
Quality standard by the
farmers
Unacceptable
RM 3.00/kg
Acceptable but sell
at low price
RM 12.00/kg
Acceptable &
sell at high price
RM 15/kg
 Planting Material
• Demand for female asam
gelugor is very high
• Problem
• Produce >70% male tree
• 7 – 10 years before fruit
set
• Grafted tree = RM 13
• Seedling tree = RM 6
• Limited supply due to lack
of expert farmer
 Fresh fruit
o sold up to RM2/kg
o slice and dried
o for seedling
 Value added product
o drinks
o candy
o chutney
o jam
Summary
• Exploitation on commercial potential
triggered interest among farmers in Bukit
Gantang, Perak to plant more asam
gelugor trees.
• Good community driven effort to conserve
asam gelugor species
Thank you.