Mangosteen

Mangosteen (Garcinia mangostana), also called mangostan or purple mangosteen, is a tropical evergreen tree with edible fruit native to the Malay Peninsula and Borneo. It has been cultivated extensively in tropical Asia since ancient times. It is grown mainly in Southeast Asia, southwest India and other tropical areas such as Colombia, Puerto Rico and Florida, where the tree has been introduced. The tree grows from 6 to 25 m (19.7 to 82.0 ft) tall. The fruit of the mangosteen is sweet and tangy, juicy, somewhat fibrous, with fluid-filled vesicles and an inedible, deep reddish-purple colored rind (exocarp) when ripe. The fragrant edible flesh that surrounds each seed is the endocarp, i.e., the inner layer of the ovary. The seeds are of similar size and shape to almonds. The genus Garcinia also contains several less-known fruit-bearing species, such as the button mangosteen (G. prainiana) and the charichuelo (G. madruno).