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Ever Hear of This Fruit?

I want to tell you about the most healthful and most delicious tropical fruit that you’d ever want to taste. It’s called the mangosteen, and the reason you’ve probably never heard of it is because you can’t buy it in the United States. However, you can buy the juice of the fruit and I’ll tell you how you can do that at the end of this article.

The Mystique
The mangosteen is a lovely tropical fruit that grows well in SE Asia. It cannot be imported into the U.S. because of laws that prohibit the importation of untreated plants that might harbor agricultural pests. The good news is that Hawaii is starting to grow and harvest the mangosteen, so there is hope that one day we will be able to buy the fruit at local markets.

The mangosteen has been nicknamed the “Queen of Fruits.” It received its nickname because Queen Victoria of England loved the fruit and declared it to be her favorite fruit. As the story goes she offered a knighthood to anyone who could bring her some.

The taste of the mangosteen has been described in glowing terms. The July, 2003, issue of Gourmet magazine featured an article about the fruit. The author, David Karp, declared “the flavor was almost unbearably exquisite.” Further, he states that “many people consider mangosteen the finest fruit in the world.” Needless to say, the fruit is sweet and delicious. I’ll tell you further on how you can taste the juice, which is legally available.

The Facts
Mantosteen fruit grows on an evergreen broad leafed tree that grows well in SE Asia. The fruit is a red-purple orb about the size of a large plum or small orange. The rind is thick and contains some remarkable healthful phytonutrients that have been used successfully for many generations in SE Asia. The 5 to 7 lobed fruit inside has a wonderful taste, as described earlier, and yields an excellent juice.

The tree grows patiently and will not yield fruit until it is 7 to 12 years old. At that age the tree may produce 60 fruits. The tree will mature after about 22 years and at that time may yield 1600 fruits and may be harvested twice a year. Such a tree is a living gold mine.

The Science
The benefits of vitamins B, C, E and certain minerals as antioxidants are well studied and widely known. However, not so widely known, according to Fred Templeman, M.D., is that “there exist other antioxidants even more potent than vitamins.” One of these substances, called xanthones, provides important nutrition and is a substance used by every system in the body.

The importance of the mangosteen is that of all the known fruits, tropical or otherwise, it contains the single greatest known supply of xanthones, about 20 different ones in all. These phytonutrients are found in the rind of the fruit. In order to receive the healthful benefits of xanthones, one must utilize the whole fruit, a practice that has been ongoing in SE Asia for many generations. A whole food puree is now available in the United States that combines the amazing phytonutrients of the rind with the rich, delicious juice of the inner pulp.

In case you are curious, as I was, about the scientific evidence found in the professional life science publications, go to the internet location www.pubmed.com. That website is a service of the National Library of Medicine and provides access to over 12 million professional articles dating back to the mid-1960’s. A search in their library recently yielded 234 articles regarding the keyword, “xanthone,” and 11 articles regarding the keyword “mangosteen.”

The Juice
Unfortunately the mangosteen fruit itself cannot currently be imported into the U.S., but fortunately a puree of the whole fruit and the juice can be made in the U.S. and is available under the brand name Xango. The name itself combines the nutritional substance, xanthone, with the fruit, mangosteen. It is readily available by phone order or from local direct marketers.

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