Mistynights....Magnosteen Juice

April 4, 2005

Mangosteen is a tropical fruit tree species with promising value.The fruit has been widely used as an anti-inflammatory agent and in the treatment of skin infection and in many other health conditions.Named for the French explorer Jacques Garcin (1673-1751), the mangosteen is thought to have originated in Southeast Asia. Its scientific name is ' Garcinia Mangostana ' and, today, the fruit tree is cultivated in the tropical regions of both hemispheres with commercial plantations in Thailand, India, Malaysia, the Philippines and Brazil. Prized because of its excellent flavour, in Asia, it is called 'the queen of fruits' and, in the French Caribbean, 'the food of the Gods'.

Garcinia Mangostana belongs to the family “ Guttiferae” which includes over 800 species. Some of the relatives of the mangosteen such as Hypericum Perforatum (St. John's Wort) and Garcinia Cambogia have already become well known as medicinal plants. What is amazing is that the Mangosteen (which, by the way, has no connection with the mango) has never been utilised for its multiple health benefits in North America or Europe despite its history and popularity as a folk remedy in Asia and South America. Until recently, it has been one of Nature's best-kept secrets....The fruit composed of the following:

Pericarp (rind or skin)- it is smooth, 4-8mm thick with a purple coloration

Pulp (fruit) - consists of 4-8 white colored segments. It is juicy with an exquisite taste.

Seeds - one fruit usually contains 2-3 well-developed seeds ranging between 1.5 and 2.5 cm in length.

The fruit is bottled in 750ml bottles( like wine) in the USA. Both the Company & the product is called XANGO. ( a mix of the words ,mangosteen & xanthones) The juice consists of the whole fruit puree of the mangosteen, 75% & the other 25% is a precise combination of Juice from high antioxidant fruits, blueberry, cranberry, raspberry, grape, cherry, straw, pear & apple.

The pericarp & seeds which contain most of the xanthones, are quite bitter, (good liver principle) so the by adding the other juices we have the ultimate in antioxidant & a patented delicious beverage.

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Uses of Mangosteen preparation...

FOLK MEDICINE REMEDIES FROM THE MANGOSTEEN

For centuries the traditional medical healers of India, China, Malaysia, Thailand the Philippines and Vietnam have employed Mangosteen for its health benefits. In the last 150 years the plant has been transported to Africa, the Caribbean, Australia and South America where both researchers and medical practitioners alike have studied and utilised its healing and protective properties.

In India, Thailand and China, preparations from the rind are used as antimicrobial and antiparasitic treatments for dysentery and other forms of infectious diarrhoea. The plant's astringent qualities are useful in preventing dehydration and the loss of essential nutrients from the GI tract of diarrhoea sufferers.The Chinese and Thais also take advantage of the mangosteen's antimicrobial and antiseptic properties to treat infected wounds, tuberculosis, malaria, urinary tract infections, syphilis and gonorrhoea.

It has long been recognised in Asia that the Mangosteen has apperently powerful anti-inflammatory powers and is reported to be effective in treating eczematous and other hyperkeratotic skin conditions.

In the Caribbean, known as “ eau de Creole ”, a tea made from Mangosteen is used as a tonic for fatigue and malaise, universal symptoms experienced by millions around the world..

Brazilians use a similar tea as a de-worming agent and digestive aid. In Venezuela, parasitic skin infections are treated with poultices of the fruit while Filipinos employ a fruit extract to control fever.

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SCIENTIFIC INVESTIGATIONS OF THE MANGOSTEEN

Mangosteen a medicinal plant and fruit

Unlike most medicinal plants, the phytoceuticals of the mangosteen have been widely studied by medical and pharmacological researchers.

Our secondary research has unearthed over forty scientific papers in which biochemically active components of the mangosteen have been rigorously examined in the laboratory. While we continue to search out and examine dozens of other papers, it is already evident that the multiple health benefits of the fruit are supported by scientific investigation.

Here is just a glimpse of what has been found.

Among the phytoceuticals in the mangosteen is a newly discovered class of highly active substances called ‘Xanthones'? Garcinia Mangostana's Xanthones are still being investigated, and to date, 43 xanthones have been identified and several of them intensely studied.

However, xanthones are not the only active substances in the mangosteen. Polyphenols and cathechins, powerful antioxidants and anti tumor agents, are present in significant quantities (#2, #8, #9, #15). Other key ingredients, polysaccharides, are apparently responsible for the antibacterial and antifungal effects of the fruit. Finally, potassium, calcium, phosphorus, iron, vitamins B1, B2, B6 and C are found in the fruit as well.

"First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win."-- Mahatma Gandhi