Mangosteen, Manggis
Garcinia mangostana

Family: Clusiaceae

What it is like

Mangosteen or Garcinia mangostana is a small evergreen fruit tree that has a pyramidal crown. It is slow-growing, reaching up to 25 m in height and up to 37cm bole diameter. It is commonly found in East Asia. It is not tolerant to drought and strong winds. The fruits of mangosteen are edible and known to be one of the tastiest fruits in the market. It is juicy and aromatic with a sweet, delicate flavor. The seeds can also be eaten after boiling or roasting. Though widely recognized for its fruits, mangosteen also has medicinal properties. The rind of the fruit can be used internally for dysentery, diarrhea, cystitis, and gonorrhea. Externally, it can be used for eczema and other skin conditions. Leaf and bark decoction can also be used for such purposes. Leaf infusion can be used on circumcision wound. The fruit rind is a source of tannins which can be used as a black dye. The twigs are used as chew sticks. The wood is used in construction and cabinet work. Mangosteen is usually propagated by seedlings.

Garcinia mangostana is an evergreen Tree growing to 12 m (39ft) by 10 m (32ft) at a slow rate. See above for USDA hardiness. It is hardy to UK zone 10 and is frost tender. The plant is self-fertile. Suitable for: medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils and prefers well-drained soil. Suitable pH: mildly acid and neutral soils and can grow in very acid soils. It can grow in semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade. It prefers moist soil. The plant is not wind tolerant.

Height (m): 12

Where it is found

The tree is mostly known from cultivation, but is also probably wild on hillsides and ridges in undisturbed mixed dipterocarp forests at elevations up to 200 metres.

E. Asia - Malaysia.

Conservation Status: This taxon has not yet been assessed

Countries/locations it is found in

Africa, Andamans, Asia, Australia, Brazil, Burma, Cambodia, Cameroon, Central Africa, Central America, China, Cook Islands, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, East Africa, East Timor, Fiji, Ghana, Haiti, Hawaii, India, Indochina, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nicaragua, North America, Pacific, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Puerto Rico, SE Asia, Singapore, Solomon Islands, South America, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Timor-Leste, USA, Vietnam, West Africa, West Indies, Zambia,

How it is used

Food

Rating: 5

Fruit - raw. The white fruit is delicious. The fruit is aromatic, juicy, with a texture so soft it almost melts in the mouth and a sweet, delicate flavour. About the size of an apple, the skin can be removed to reveal about 6 kernels of white pulp with a flavour that is tart and sweet, like a cross between grapes and strawberries. The fruit is a globose berry 34 - 75mm in diameter. The best table fruits are those with the highest number of stigma lobes at the apex, for these have the highest number of fleshy segments and the fewest seeds. Seed - occasionally eaten after boiling or roasting. They add a delicious nutty flavour to preserves when cooked with the pulp.

Seed: includes nuts, cereals, peas and beans.

Condiment: the various plants that are used as flavourings, either as herbs, spices or condiments.

Medicine

Rating: 2

The rind is astringent and has been used internally to treat dysentery, diarrhoea, cystitis and gonorrhoea. It is applied externally to treat eczema and other skin disorders. The rind of partially ripe fruits yields a polyhydroxy-xanthone derivative termed mangostin. That of fully ripe fruits contains the xanthones, gartanin, 8-disoxygartanin, and normangostin. A derivative of mangostin, mangostin-e, 6-di-O-glucoside, is a central nervous system depressant and causes a rise in blood pressure A decoction of the leaves and bark is used as an astringent, febrifuge and to treat thrush, diarrhoea, dysentery and urinary disorders. A bark extract called 'amibiasine', has been marketed for the treatment of amoebic dysentery An infusion of the leaves, combined with unripe banana and a little benzoin, is applied to the circumcision wound. A root decoction is taken to regulate menstruation.

Antidermatosic: Prevents or cures skin complaints.

Antidiarrhoeal: Provides symptomatic relief for diarrhoea. Also see Astringent.

Antifungal: An agent that inhibits or destroys fungi. Used in the treatment of various fungal problems such as candida.

Astringent: Produces contraction in living tissue, reducing the flow of secretions and discharges of blood, mucus, diarrhoea etc.

Dysentery: Used in treating dysentery - an infection of the intestines that causes diarrhoea containing blood or mucus.

Eczema: Used in the treatment of eczema - a chronic health condition that affects the skin, causing redness, dryness, itching and infections.

Febrifuge: Reduces fevers.

Skin: Plants used in miscellaneous treatments for the skin.

Urinary: Treats urinary problems, including urinary tract infection (UTI).

Other

Rating: 2

Small fruit tree, Humid shade garden, Bonsai, Botanic collection. Other Uses The fruit rind is a source of tannins. It contains 7 - 14% catechin tannin and rosin. The tannins can be used as a black dye. The twigs are used as chewsticks. The fruit hulls show anti-fungal and anti-protozoal activity. The dark-brown wood is strong; heavy to the point that it almost sinks in water; and is moderately durable. Usually only available in small sizes, it has been used in construction and cabinetwork, to make handles for spears and rice pounders.

Dye: Plants that provide dyes.

Furniture: A few miscellaneous uses that do not fit easily into other headings.

Tannin: An astringent substance obtaied from plants, it is used medicinally, as a dye and mordant, stabilizer in pesticide etc.

Teeth: Plants used to clean and care for the teeth.

Wood: A list of the trees and shrubs that are noted for having useful wood.

Food Forest: Plants for Edible Forest Gardens and Food Forests.

How it is grown

The mangosteen is an ultra-tropical plant, usually only grown in areas without a dry season and within 10 degrees of the equator. It is usually grown from sea level up to 1,000 metres elevation, but the growth rate is higher in lowland areas. It grows best in areas where annual daytime temperatures are within the range 20 - 30°c, but can tolerate 15 - 40°c. It cannot tolerate temperatures below 4°c, nor above 38°c. It prefers a mean annual rainfall in the range 1,600 - 2,000mm, but tolerates 1,100 - 2,800mm. Succeeds in full sun and in light shade. Requires a good, deep, rich organic soil that retains moisture but is also well-drained. Grows best in a fertile clay with good drainage. Prefers an acid soil. Prefers a pH in the range 5 - 6, tolerating 4.3 - 7.5. Plants are intolerant of drought. The mangosteen must be sheltered from strong winds and salt spray. It takes at least 8 years before a tree commences bearing fruit, but yields of 200 - 1,500 fruits per tree have been recorded from mature specimens. In cooler climates it can take 15 - 20 years for plants to produce their first fruit from seed. Trees produce an economical yield of fruit for about 50 years. Stress should be avoided; a tree which is visibly suffering seldom recovers. Plants resent root disturbance. Only female forms of this plant are known, but they are able to produce fruit without fertilization. There are some named forms. The plants grow very well when banana plants are grown around them to provide wind shelter and plenty of mulch material. Some of the most fruitful mangosteen trees grow on the banks of streams, lakes, ponds or canals where the roots are almost constantly wet. However, dry weather just before blooming time and during flowering induces a good fruit-set. Spacing: 20-30 ft. (6-9 m).

Propagating it: Seed. - it has a very short viability and should be sown as soon as it is ripe. Technically, the so-called 'seeds' are not true seeds but adventitious embryos, or hypocotyl tubercles; there has been no sexual fertilization. When growth begins, a shoot emerges from one end of the seed and a root from the other end. But this root is short-lived and is replaced by roots which develop at the base of the shoot. The process of reproduction being vegetative, there is naturally little variation in the resulting trees and their fruits. Some of the seeds are polyembryonic, producing more than one shoot. The individual nucellar embryos can be separated, if desired, before planting. The percentage of germination is directly related to the weight of the seed, only plump, fully developed seeds should be chosen for planting. Because of the long, delicate taproot and poor lateral root development, transplanting is notoriously difficult. It must not be attempted after the plants reach 60cm. At that time the depth of the taproot may exceed the height of the plant. There is greater seedling survival if seeds are planted directly in the nursery row than if first grown in containers and then transplanted to the nursery. The nursery soil should be 1 metre deep, at least. The young plants take 2 years or more to reach a height of 30cm, when they can be taken up with a deep ball of earth and set out. Seeds are recalcitrant and should be stored in their fruit at room temperature, or in moist peat moss, even these will lose viability in 5 days after removal from the fruit, though they are viable for 3 - 5 weeks in the fruit. Viability can be maintained for 1 - 2 months in moist storage at 20°c, storage temperature of 10°c is damaging. Cuttings of greenwood. Budding on to seedlings.

Best place to grow:

Habit: Tree

Hardiness: 11-12

Growth: Slow

Soil: Medium, heavy (clay)

Shade: Semi-shade, no shade

Moisture: Moist

Things to keep in mind

Its other names

Local names

Cay mang-cut, Gamus, Manggis, Mangkhud, Mangkhut, Mangkut, Mangostane, Mangostanier, Mangostano, Mangostao, Mangosuchin, Mangus kai, Mangus, Mangusta, Mangustan, Mangut, Masta, Mingut thi, Mongkhut, Ple semeta, king's-fruit, mang ji shi, manggis, mangostan, mangostanbaum, mangostane, mangosteen, mangostán, mangostão, mangoustan, mangoustanier.

Synonyms

No synonyms are recorded for this name.