The mangosteen fruit grows on a tropical evergreen tree that is native to the Sundra Islands an the Moluccas of Indonesia. The tree grows very high, 80 feet or more in certain areas. The purple fruit that is produced by this tree is edible, sometimes compared in taste to a tangy peach or apricot, and sometimes compared to a very sweet peach. The qualities of this fruit are legendary when it comes to healing and health benefits. The rind is sometimes tough to get through, but will soften as the fruit becomes ripe.

‘Superfruits’ are becoming more and more common each day. New fruits are being found in many countries and are now being cultivated in some of our states. Mangosteen’s unique nutrients allow it to fall under the category of being a ’superfruit.’ Although the nutritional value seems to below the FDA daily allowance, and it seems to be made up more of water than anything else, it does have some hidden attributes that make it a great choice for your health.

Due to the mass being mainly water, this fruit would fit perfectly in the diet of anyone who is considering weight loss or just wants to maintain the weight they are at now. Recent research has disclosed that mangosteen is very high in Xanthones which are powerful antioxidants. There are only 200 Xanthones known to science and somehow mangosteen contains 40 of them. That is an extremely large amount for any known fruit or vegetable to contain.

Traveling all through our system, free radicals that can cause severe health problems are destroyed by these powerful Xanthones. This helps cleanse the body and prevents all kinds of health and disease problems. All of the Xanthones and other antioxidants contained in the Mangosteen help with inflammation, allergies, platelet problems and malfunctions, tumors and convulsive problems. Some of the Xanthones contained in this fruit include but are not limited to magostanol, gartanin, Garcinone’s A, D, and C, beta-magostin, garcinone, gama-mangostin, and alpha-magostin.

Oddly, some health officials are concerned about consuming too much of this fruit juice. There have been reported cases in Thailand of severe acidosis in relation to consuming large quantities of mangosteen juice. More studies are ongoing.

Mangosteen comes in liquid, frozen, and canned products here in the US. It is mostly available in these forms in the western world, especially as a juice. The fruit itself is sometimes available in season at some grocers in North America, but not directly from Asia… It is now being grown as a high-priced crop for export from Puerto Rico since the US does not allow fruits to be imported from Southeast Asia.