The Mangosteen is a fruit that is unique to Southeast Asia and is also known as the “Queen of Fruits.” It is extremely hard to grow and often takes 8-15 years for a tree to bear fruits.
Mangosteens are a fragrant fruit which have sweet, creamy, and tangy flavor. The outer shell of the fruit is rather hard, typically 4-6 cm in diameter. The rind is dark purple marked by a yellowish resin. In terms of size and shape, the mangosteen is similar to the Japanese persimmon. Cutting through the shell, one finds a fruit shaped like a peeled tangerine but bright white flesh, about 3-5 cm in diameter, nested in a burgundy shell. Depending on the fruit size and ripeness, there might be seeds in the segments. The seeds, however, are not edible unless cooked.
Mangosteen juice is a dye which can be almost impossible to remove from fabric (the reason why they are banned from some hotels in countries where they are available).
According to researchers, mangosteen contains many healthy qualities such as help preventing anti-bacterial, anti-inflammatory, and anticancer activities.
Eating preparations: Choose mangosteens where the shell still has a little give. When the shell is hardened, it means the fruit is already ripe or overripe. They are usually shipped fresh and ready to eat from Thailand.
To open a mangosteen, the shell is usually broken apart, one holds the fruit in both hands, and presses it gently (as if splitting it in half) until the shell cracks. It is then very easy to pull the halves apart along the crack and remove the fruit, taking care with the purplish, inky juice that the outer red part of the fruit contains.
Storage: The fresh fruit can be kept for 5-7 days at room temperature.
