Mangosteen nutrition facts

Unique for its appearance and flavor mangosteen is often revered as queen of tropical fruits. This exotic, purple color tropical fruit is quite popular for its snow-white, juicy, delicious arils all over the Asian countries and in recent years grabbing the attention of European and American fruit lovers as well!

Botanically belongs to the family of Clusiaceae; of the genus: Garcinia, and known scientifically as Garcinia mangostana.

Mangosteen plant is an evergreen, erect tree reaching about 20- 60 ft in height. It commonly found in tropical rainforests of Indonesia, Malaysia, and Philippines as well as in some cultivated lands in Sri Lanka, and India, where annual precipitation and relative humidity are favorable for its growth. Fresh purple fruits are available in the markets from June until October.

Each tree bears several deep purple colored round shaped fruits, capped with light green calyx at the stem end. Fully matured fruit measures about 3-7 cm in diameter. Its outer tough rind is about 7-12 mm thick, contains bitter yellow latex that stains clothes black.

Internally; the fruit features 4 to 10 juicy, snow-white color, soft, fleshy triangular segments as in oranges. Each segment may contain 1-4 off white colored seeds. Seeds are inedible and bitter in taste. The flavor of fruit is sweet, fragrant, and delicious.

Different species of Garcinia genus grown all around the Southeast Asia, Africa, and South America all along the tropical belt. Cherapu or Button mangosteen (Garcinia prainiana) is native to Malaysia. It has somewhat flat, mandarin orange shape with thin rind that can be peeled very easily by hand as in oranges.

Lemon drop mangosteens (Garcinia madruno) are small size (2-4 cm diameter) fruits native to Malayan peninsula. African mangosteens or Imbe (Garcinia livingstonei) are native to West Africa. The fruits are slightly larger than lemon drop type.

Health benefits of mangosteen

• Delicious, juicy mangosteen is one of the popular tropical fruits that contain an impressive list of essential nutrients, which are required for normal growth and development and overall nutritional well-being.
• This fruit is very low in calories, contains no saturated fats or cholesterol, but rich in dietary fiber (100 g provides about 13% of RDA) which can be very important for individuals who are concerned about putting on excess body weight.
• Mangosteen is good in vitamin C; provides about 12% of per 100 g. Vitamin-C is a powerful water soluble anti-oxidant. Consumption of fruits rich in vitamin C helps body develop resistance against flu-like infectious agents and scavenge harmful, pro-inflammatory free radicals.
• Fresh fruit is a moderate source of B-complex vitamins such as thiamin, niacin and folates. These vitamins are acting as cofactors help body metabolize carbohydrates, protein, and fats.
• It also contains a very good amount of minerals like potassium, manganese and magnesium. Potassium is an important component of cell and body fluids help control heart rate and blood pressure; thus offers protection against stroke and coronary heart diseases.

Selection and Storage

Mangosteens are available fresh during summer months. Fully matured deep purple color fruits are picked up either by hand or by means of hooking as in mangoes without damaging them. Injury to outer skin results in percolation of bitter latex into the edible flesh, which makes the whole fruit bitter and inedible.

Fresh mangosteens are now readily available in the supermarkets across the United States. While buying, look for fresh fruits that feel heavy in hand with firm green calyx at the stem end and bright purple color skin as they indicate fresh arrivals from East Asian orchards. Avoid those appearing dry and blotched skin as they indicate old stock.

At home, ripe fruits should be placed in cool well-ventilated place where they keep well for up to 2 weeks. Their keeping quality improves by storing them in the refrigerator.

Preparation and Serving tips

Wash fruit in water to remove surface dust. Fresh fruit has thick soft rind quite like pomegranate but thicker in size. In general, the fruit is scored through the rind around the equatorial circumferential line using paring knife and the upper half pulled up gently using thumb to expose delicious arils inside.

Prolonged exposure to warmer conditions causes the outer skin to dry and hard and becomes difficult to open.

Here are some serving tips:

• Fresh mangosteens are wonderfully delicious. Enjoy this exotic juicy fruit all alone without any additions.
• The fruit segments complement well with other fruit sections like papaya, watermelon, pineapple, grapes etc.
• Mangosteen juice is very tasty thirst quenching cool drink to beat summer heat.
• Mangosteen clafouti prepared using corn flour and coconut milk is a delicious desert.