What Is The Mangosteen Fruit?

The Mangosteen is an unusual looking fruit that can be found on the tropical evergreen tree of the same name in the islands of the Pacific. It can claim no relation to the mango, but its cousins are the lemondrop mangosteen and the button mangosteen.

About the Mangosteen

The tree the mangosteen grows upon can grow as much as 25 meters in height. When the maturing fruit is first glimpsed in the canopy shade, it is a very pale green appearing almost white. It takes up to three months for the fruit to grow larger and the exocarp to deepen to a greener hue.

The fruit is edible and the rind is typically a reddish purple hue when the fruit is fully ripened. Not only does the flesh of the mangosteen have a smooth and creamy texture, it has a sweet flavor that is citrusy with just a hint of peach. It is a fragrant fruit that may have your mouth watering before you take a bite from this exotic, heady scented fruit.

It is a small fruit, only being about 2-3 inches in diameter. It is smaller than a tennis ball. Practiced mangosteen eaters typically crush the rind of the mangosteen, which is said to be brittle, so that it reveals the white, creamy flesh inside. You cannot eat the rind, but you can eat the wedged segments with the largest piece usually containing a seed. There can be from four to eight segments of sweet flesh, depending upon the number of protrusions you see on the underside of the mangosteen.

Nutritional Content

The Mangosteen contains various nutrients, but the primary nutritional content of interest is its antioxidant content. The mangosteen fruit contains a special class of antioxidants called xanthones. Scientists have begun studying the health benefits of mangosteen - although the results are far from conclusive, the initial results are promising.

History and Legend

A fairly new fruit to the western world, bringing the mangosteen out of its Southeast Asian home was a fragile endeavor. The exotic mangosteen was quite fragile and perished easily. Fresh mangosteen fruit was not allowed into the United States until July 2007. It was said the fruit could be a haven for the Asian fruit fly to travel into the country and put the nation’s own crops at risk.

There has been much said about Queen Victoria’s relationship with the mangosteen fruit. Legend has it that the Queen was offered a mangosteen by a botanist who had finally successfully fruited the tree outside of its native habitat. Though you can find much information linking the Queen with the fruit, there are no facts that can substantiate such a claim.