Malabar Tamarind

Malabar Tamarind Extract, also widely known as Garcinia Cambogia Extract, is obtained from the fruit rind of Garcinia gummi-gutta (L.) N.Robson, a member of the Clusiaceae family. Garcinia cambogia is an extensively used older botanical name/synonym for this species.

The fruit rind is particularly notable for its content of (-)-hydroxycitric acid (HCA), which is the major organic acid characteristic of Malabar Tamarind. Other reported constituents include citric acid, malic acid, garcinol, isogarcinol, guttiferones, xanthones and flavonoids.

Analytical research has demonstrated that HCA can be quantified by HPLC, and one published analysis reported HCA concentrations of approximately 16–18% in the examined Garcinia cambogia fruit material. However, this should not be treated as a universal commercial specification because extraction method, raw material and grade can substantially affect the final HCA concentration.

Commercial standardized extracts are available at substantially higher HCA levels; for example, some specifications use 50–60% HCA or higher. Therefore, for your Harmony Mists catalogue, I strongly recommend writing the active content as “HCA — Grade Dependent” unless you have the actual COA for your product.