The Mighty? Mangosteen

Mangosteen may not have survived America's first attempts to have the 18 foot high trees that grow in Africa, flourish in the states (the only tree that bloomed bore one fruit that died fairly quickly), but that doesn't stop industry from attempting to bring its benefits to US customers. Entire wild forests of the fruit can be found in Malaya, and the fruit is also found in the Caribbean and Central America.
There a decent number of skeptics however, who feel that something claimed to be so versatile and tasting as good as Mangosteen does, might not be very effective, despite reports that Mangosteen is anti-depressant, anti-leukemic, anti-microbial (fungus and bacteria), and also anti-viral.

Mangosteen is said to contain over 40 xanthones (biologically active plant phenols identified in select tropical plants) identified in the rind, which places the fruit in the category of one of the fruits with the highest xanthone content, according to Xango.com (a major distributor of the Mangosteen juice product). They claim also that only 6 xanthones have been studied in depth (fully ripe fruits are said to contain xanthones, gartanin, 8-desoxygartanin, and normangoston and a derivative of mangostin that is a central nervous system depressant, causing a blood pressure rise).

In eastern countries the rind is sliced and dried into a powder to overcome dysentery. It is also made into an ointment that is applied to eczema and other disorders of the skin. The decoction of the rind is taken to relieve diahrrea and cystitis, gleet, and gonorrhea applied as an astringent. Steeped in water overnight it is a remedy for chronic diahrrea in both adults and children.

In the Phillipines a decoction of the leaves and bark is used to treat thrush, diahrrea, dysentery, and disorders of the urinary tract. An infusion of the leaves with an unripe banana and a bit of benzoin is applied in Malay to the wound of circumcision. As a root decoction it's taken to regulate menstruation.

In the end it may be too early to tell if Mangosteen is the superfruit juice ingredient Xango claims it to be, but it is surely a gem in the world of folk medicine.


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