‘This delicious fruit is about the size of a mandarin orange, round and slightly flattened at each end, with a smooth, thick rind, rich red-purple in color, with here and there a bright, hardened drop of the yellow juice which marks some injury to the rind when it was young,” wrote David Fairchild, an American fruit explorer, when he saw the fruit for the first time.
If you still don’t know what fruit Fairchild was describing, then you haven’t seen a mangosteen yet. Highly esteemed in Davao, where it is mostly grown, mangosteen can now be availed in Metro Manila (but most of the fruits are shipped from Mindanao).
“If durian is the king of tropical fruits, then mangosteen is the queen,” says C. Alimoane, the director of Davao-based Mindanao Baptist Rural Life Center (MBRLC), a non-governmental organization which planted about 500 mangosteen trees in its farm.
“At the start of the fruiting season, we sell our mangosteen fruits at P60 per kilo,” says Roy Alimoane, the center’s director. “But as the fruiting starts to peak, the price goes down to as low as P30 per kilo.”
Mangosteen is usually eaten fresh as dessert. You need to hold the fruit with the stem-end downward. Take a sharp knife and cut around the middle completely through the rind, and lift off the top half. What you see are the fleshy segments exposed in the colorful “cup”—the bottom half of the rind. To eat it, lift out the segments by fork.
Fairchild wrote: “[Mangosteens] are strikingly handsome as anything of the kind could well be, but it is only when the fruit is opened that its real beauty is seen.”
And it is only when the fruit is eaten that makes it one of the most delicious of its kind. “The taste of the mangosteen pulp much resembles that of a well-ripened plum, only it is so delicate that it melts in the mouth like a bit of ice cream,” Fairchild noted. “There is nothing to mar the perfection of this fruit, unless it be that the juice from the rind forms an indelible stain on a white napkin.”
In an article, “The Amazing Health Benefits of Mangosteen,” mangosteen is described as having high nutritional value. “Besides having a delicious taste, it is a rich source of fibers and carbohydrates. It also has high contents of vitamins A and vitamin C, as well as iron, calcium and potassium. This fruit is a moderate source of B-complex vitamins such as thiamin, niacin and folates. A one-cup serving of canned mangosteen has 143 calories.”
Although there isn’t enough scientific evidence to determine whether it is effective, mangosteen is used for many conditions. In the Philippines people employ a decoction of the leaves and bark as a febrifuge and to treat thrush, diarrhea, dysentery and urinary disorders. In Malaysia an infusion of the leaves, combined with unripe banana and a little benzoin is applied to the wound of circumcision. A root decoction is taken to regulate menstruation.
Mangosteen is also used for diarrhea, urinary tract infections, gonorrhea, thrush, tuberculosis, menstrual disorders, cancer, osteoarthritis and an intestinal infection called dysentery. It is also used for stimulating the immune system and improving mental health.
In the United States mangosteen juice is becoming a popular “health drink.” It is usually sold under the name “xango juice.” According to Dr. Brent A. Bauer, drinking mangosteen juice may help reduce arthritis inflammation and pain.
“A number of laboratory and animal studies suggest that mangosteen has significant anti-inflammatory effects,” wrote Bauer, a board certified in internal medicine, on the web site of the Mayo Clinic. “And a few small-scale studies in humans indicate that the juice helps reduce blood levels of C-reactive protein (CRP). CRP is a substance associated with inflammation, which may be caused by widespread infection or disorders, such as inflammatory bowel disease, lupus and rheumatoid arthritis.”
Bauer, however, cited some clarification. “The studies that found this reduction in CRP were not conducted with people who have arthritis,” he wrote. “And not everybody who has arthritis has elevated CRP. So, at this point, while the data appear promising, it’s too early to say what role mangosteen juice has in treating arthritis symptoms.”
The latest in scientific research shows mangosteen contains a class of naturally occurring polyphenolic compounds, known as xanthones. They are reportedly found in a limited number of rain-forest plants, but nowhere are they found in greater abundance than in the rind of the mangosteen fruit.
The previous article on amazing health benefits of mangosteen notes: “There are two types of xanthones in this fruit—alpha mangosteen and gamma mangosteen. Xanthones and their derivatives have been shown to have several benefits, including anti-inflammatory. In addition, xanthones are an effective remedy against various cardiovascular diseases. These antioxidants have healing properties, which heal cells damaged by free radicals, slow down aging and ward off degenerative diseases and physical and mental deterioration.”
Mangosteen also helps control blood pressure. After all, the fruit contains high amounts of minerals, like copper, manganese and magnesium. Potassium provides protection against strokes and coronary heart diseases, as it is an important component of cell and body fluids and controls heart rate and blood pressure.
To those who want to lose weight, mangosteen is good for you. The article said: “Intake of mangosteen is a widely used orthodox method for losing weight. Mangosteen helps in the prevention of weight gain, by burning down fat. Xanthones included in the mangosteen peel help to aid weight loss.”
Not only that. Mangosteens have reportedly been used in numerous anticancer studies, with positive results. One study showed how mangosteen can significantly slow the growth of cancerous colorectal tumors. Another study indicated the potential to successfully slow prostate cancer.
Research laboratories around the world are now conducting studies on the health benefits of mangosteen. As one physician who is recommending alternative medicine puts it: “Modern science is just catching up with what herbal doctors have already known for centuries about mangosteen.”
Although the fruit has long been regarded as having great economic potential, mangosteen has not received much attention from our farmers. One reason is that it takes as long as 15 years to produce a profitable crop. In recent years, if planted using cuttings, it takes only six to seven years to start bearing fruits.
Mangosteen is grown in the Sulu archipelago and some provinces in Mindanao.
A warm, humid environment is ideal for growing mangosteen. Rainfall should be well-distributed throughout the year, unless sufficient irrigation is available. The soil should be rich in organic matter, porous, deep, moist and well-drained. Ideal type of soil is heavy clay with sand and silt. It can thrive at elevations of up to 500 meters above sea level.