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Miracle fat-buster could be cash crop but the devil is in the detail
Western dieting and fitness fads have focused on the humble goraka (Garcinia), triggering a shortage in local markets as foreign buyers
Locals believe that goraka trees are possessed by the devil. Pix by Indika Handuwala
snap up supplies to make slimming and cholesterol-lowering products.
As a result, a kilo of processed (dried) goraka now sells for Rs. 1,200 and the government is trying to ramp up cultivation so that it can become a new ayurvedic cash crop, moving from its local base as a food preservative and spice. The previous price of processed Goraka was around Rs 600 to 700.
But local beliefs that goraka trees are possessed by the devil is hampering government’s efforts.
There is a developing market in Western countries, especially the US, for goraka, which a local ayurvedic expert says is used in almost all ayurvedic medicines.
“We are promoting and educating people by telling the importance of cultivating the crop,” Minor Export Crop Promotion Ministry Secretary Vajira Narampannawa said.
“If people grow one or two plants it would be a good source of income due to the growing demand.”
Mr. Narampannawa said the ministry had launched a project to distribute 5000 goraka plant seeds a year while working on increasing supplies of a hybrid tree that would yield a harvest in three years.
A normal tree can produce a harvest worth Rs. 80,000 in one season. The hybrid does not produce a high yield but is easy to manage due its small size and capacity to yield a harvest in three years compared to seven years from a normal tree.
The ministry has, however, struck an unexpected problem: supernatural fears are making many farmers reluctant to grow goraka trees.
The humble goraka fetches a high price
“People have a mistaken belief that devils possess goraka trees and destroy them but the myth has come about because the tree is not strong and breaks down when the harvest comes,” said Mr. Narampannawa. “In devil dances (thoviles) a branch of this tree is used.”
The Director of Siddhalepa, Dr. Tudor Senadheera, said 99 per cent of medicines in ayurveda contained goraka.
Heart problems, liver diseases and kidney infection could be prevented by reducing fat and cravings for oily and sugar-containing food – and goraka is able to do this as well as stop cholesterol gathering in the body.
“Goraka is known to dissolve fat and prevents extra sugar converting to fats. It reduces the appetite for sweet and oily food,” said Dr. Senadheera. The medicinal fruit also reduces toxicity in food.
The Siddhalepa expert said goraka was also used to prevent gums receding and had a tooth-protecting substance.