ABSTRACT
Kokum is an important horticultural crop of South Western India belonging to family Clusiaceae. Traditionally, kokum has been used for many years as a medicinal treatment for diarrhea, skin infection and wounds in throughout South Asia. Kokum is conventionally propagated by seeds. Seeds are recalcitrant in nature due to high sensitivity to desiccation and freezing. Seed germination is not a hurdle in kokum. Micropropagation from mature tree explants is often affected by excessive contamination, phenolic exudation, less number of shoot initials, difficulty in elongation and rooting of micro shoots. Kokum is a very slow growing tree and flowers in 7 to 8 years after planting. Flowering is observed in November-February and fruits ripen in April-May. Ripe fruits have agreeable flavour and sweetish-acid taste. They contain substantial amount of mallic acid and a little tartaric or citric acid. Kokum fruits are periodically plucked, as all fruits on the tree do not mature at the same time.
