Mangosteen

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The mangosteen originated in the islands of the Malayan Archipelago, but its cultivation has spread to the whole East Asian region. Leading producers are Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia.

Description:

The mangosteen is a berry fruit growing on a 7-25m high green carrying fruit six years after planting at the earliest. When fully ripe, this fruit has a thick reddish brown to purple violet leathery skin which is difficult to open. In the interior, the soft white pulp is divided into 4-8 segments with 1-3 longish seeds. The taste of the fruit is elegantly sweet and acidic, very exotic and refreshing.. Besides some vitamin C, the mangosteen contains calcium, phosphor and iron.

Marketing :

The cultivation of the fruit has its problems. Because the harvested fruit still ripens, mangosteens are harvested only a short time prior to ripeness. The fruit requires sufficient cooling, otherwise it spoils quickly; the pulp becomes brownish and watery and is inedible. Main distribution time in Europe is: between May and September and again November to January. The fruit lasts at 13° C and 85 – 90% relative humidity for 2-4 weeks, at 5° - 8° C it may be stored for up to 7 weeks.

Use:

The fruit is eaten mostly fresh. For this, the tough rind is cut off with a knife and the broken apart. It must be taken care that no rind pieces or rind liquid is consumed - they are bitter and destroy the taste. Long storage at insufficient cooling make the fruit quickly lose its excellent aroma. Besides the use in desserts, the mangosteen is suitable for the preparation of sauces for meat dishes, although it loses its aroma through excessive heating. Careful when peeling - the juice is difficult to remove from fabrics.