Group: Nutrition Network

We are not doing marketing of this product conform to the Xing/OpenBC reglementations, but this topic aims to show the sides of Mangosteen in a nutritional (scientific) aspect. We declaims all responsabilities on copyright or using the assertions from this forum-discussion (the user is responsible at its own).

Source:
Wendy Marcason RD, What Are the Facts and Myths about Mangosteen? Journal of the American Dietetic Association Volume 106, Issue 6 , June 2006, Page 986.

Mangosteen is a fruit widely grown in the Asian tropics. The hard skin of this fruit is dark purple-brown. It is the size and shape of a tangerine, having five to eight fruit segments. The segmented flesh is soft, cream-colored, and juicy. It has a sweet-tart flavor that is extremely refreshing (1). It is marketed as a dietary supplement as a juice or in capsule form. The juice consists of the whole fruit of the mangosteen pureed and a combination of other juices, such as blueberry, cranberry, raspberry, grape, cherry, strawberry, pear, and apple.

Nutrition information is as follows: 8 fluid oz, 80 calories, 24 g total carbohydrate, 16 g sugar, 560 mg potassium.
The most promoted brands of mangosteen are marketed as XanGo (XanGo LLC, Orem, UT) or Mangoxan (Pure Fruit Technologies, American Fork, UT). It is sold worldwide via the internet in a multi-level (network) marketing system.

The marketing for this product claims that mangosteen:
- provides antioxidant protection against free radicals;
- maintains immune system health;
- promotes joint flexibility;
- provides positive mental support;
- reduces allergies;
- reduces joint inflammation; and
- prevents cancer.

The rationale behind the claims is that the human body produces free radicals during everyday life. Free radicals are very unstable and react quickly with other compounds. Once formed, free radicals can start a chain reaction of cell damage finally resulting in death of the cell. Antioxidants, such as vitamins A, C, and E, and selenium, are chemicals found in whole foods (especially fruits and vegetables) that help to protect the body’s cells from the harmful effects of free radicals. Xanthone is a compound found in mangosteen fruit that may have antioxidant properties.

* Marketers cite long lists of lab studies as “proof” of mangosteen’s health benefits.
- But there are no clinical trials, and what happens in a test tube or animal may not occur in a human.
. - Any reported benefits in humans have been anecdotal. .
- No one even knows if the processed fruit juice and capsules retain the potentially beneficial compounds. .
- What’s more, the juice is typically a mix of fruit juices as noted above—with an undisclosed amount of
mangosteen juice in it.

* Scientific research does confirm that a variety of xanthones can be isolated from mangosteen plants and fruits
including the hull, rind, heartwood, and flesh.
There have been a number of studies that verify this, some reporting as many as six xanthones found in the
mangosteen fruit.
No adverse side effects have been associated with mangosteen whole fruit, juice, or extracts.

* Until the health benefits of mangosteen are scientifically proven, it is cheaper and wiser to get antioxidants from
fruit and vegetable sources.
* To get the recommended daily amounts of antioxidants, the US Government Dietary Guidelines 2005
recommend eating four and one-half cups (nine servings) of fruits and vegetables each day based on a 2,000-
calorie-per-day diet.

To be continued ....

I will really appreciate your contribution and feeding the discussion. Thanks again for your interest.

Jacques
This article was modified on 20 Feb 2007 at 03:32 pm.

Dear all,

Another contribution about Mangosteen.

Quid?
Garcinia mangostana L. (Clusiaceae), commonly known as mangosteen, is a slow-growing tropical evergreen tree with leathery, glabrous leaves. The tree can attain 6-25 m in height and is mainly found in India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, and Thailand. Mangosteen has dark purple to red-purple fruits. The edible fruit aril is white, soft, and juicy with a sweet, slightly acid taste and a pleasant aroma. The pericarp of mangosteen has been used in Thai indigenous medicine for the treatment of skin infections, wounds, and diarrhea for many years.Recently, products manufactured from G. mangostana have begun to be used as a botanical dietary supplement in the United States, because of their potent antioxidant potential. The major secondary metabolites of mangosteen have been found to be prenylated xanthone derivatives; some members of this compound class isolated from this plant possess antifungal, antimicrobial, antioxidant, and cytotoxic activities.

The fruit hull of mangosteen, Garcinia mangostana L. has been used in Southeast Asia [as a Thai indigenous medicine] for many years for many years as a medicine for treatment of skin infection, wounds, and diarrhea (and malaria??).

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Weecharangsan et al. (2006) investigating the antioxidative and neuroprotective activities of various extracts from the fruit hull of mangosteen. They have suggested that the water and 50% ethanol extracts from the fruit hull of GM may be potent neuroprotectants.
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Hyun-Ah Jung et al. (2006) have demonstrated the antioxidant activities of Mangosteen.
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Moongkarndi et al. (2004) Investigating the antiproliferative activity against human breast adenocarcinoma cell line have demonstrate that Garcinia mangostana has showed the most potent activity among ethanolic extracts of nine Thai medicinal plants (However, all plant extracts showed activity in potential range for further investigation on cancer cells).
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Nakatani et al. (2002) examining the effects of mangosteen extracts [100%, 70%, 40% ethanol and water] on histamine release and prostaglandin E2 synthesis, found that the 40% ethanol extract of mangosteen has potent inhibitory activities of both histamine release and prostaglandin E2 synthesis.
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Nakatani et al. (2002) [examining the effect of gamma-mangostin, a tetraoxygenated diprenylated xanthone contained in mangosteen, on arachidonic acid (AA) cascade in C6 rat glioma cells] have demonstrated that gamma-mangostin competitively inhibited the activities of both COX-1 and -2. This study is a first demonstration that gamma-mangostin, a xanthone derivative, directly inhibits COX activity.
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Rassameemasmaung et al.(2007) have demonstrate that the herbal mouthwash containing the pericarp extract of G. mangostana may be used as an adjunct in treating oral malodor.
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References:
- Hyun-Ah Jung, Bao-Ning Su, William J. Keller, Rajendra G. Mehta, and A. Douglas Kinghorn. Antioxidant Xanthones from the Pericarp of Garcinia mangostana (Mangosteen). J. Agric. Food Chem., 54 (6), 2077 -2082, 2006.
- Weecharangsan W, Opanasopit P, Sukma M, Ngawhirunpat T, Sotanaphun U, Siripong P.Antioxidative and neuroprotective activities of extracts from the fruit hull of mangosteen (Garcinia mangostana Linn.) Med Princ Pract. 2006;15(4):281-7.
- Moongkarndi P, Kosem N, Luanratana O, Jongsomboonkusol S, Pongpan N. Antiproliferative activity of Thai medicinal plant extracts on human breast adenocarcinoma cell line. Fitoterapia. 2004 Jun;75(3-4):375-7.
- Nakatani K, Atsumi M, Arakawa T, Oosawa K, Shimura S, Nakahata N, Ohizumi Y. Inhibitions of histamine release and prostaglandin E2 synthesis by mangosteen, a Thai medicinal plant. Biol Pharm Bull. 2002 Sep;25(9):1137-41.
- Nakatani K, Nakahata N, Arakawa T, Yasuda H, Ohizumi Y.Inhibition of cyclooxygenase and prostaglandin E2 synthesis by gamma-mangostin, a xanthone derivative in mangosteen, in C6 rat glioma cells. Biochem Pharmacol. 2002 Jan 1;63(1):73-9
- Rassameemasmaung S, Sirikulsathean A, Amornchat C, Hirunrat K, Rojanapanthu P, Gritsanapan W.Effects of herbal mouthwash containing the pericarp extract of Garcinia mangostana L on halitosis, plaque and papillary bleeding index. J Int Acad Periodontol. 2007 Jan;9(1):19-25.

Jacques