Garcinia mangostana

Garcinia mangostana is an evergreen tree growing to 12 m tall and 10 m wide at a slow rate. Self-fertile, it grows in medium loamy or heavy clay, well-drained soils with mildly acidic to neutral pH, tolerating very acidic conditions. The tree tolerates semi-shade or full sun but prefers moist soil and is not wind-tolerant. It is frost-tender and hardy to UK zone 10.

Description

A medium sized tree 10-20 m high with bright glossy leaves. Trees keep their leaves all year. Leaves are 15-25 cm long and leathery. Male and female flowers are on separate trees. Commercial trees only have female flowers. Male trees occur but are rare. Flowers are produced on shoots near the end of branches. Female flowers have 4 cream petals and 4 sepals and a round ovary with a thick stigma composed of 4 to 8 lobes. No pollination is required because fruit develop without fertilisation. The fruit is dark blue with 4-8 white juicy segments inside the thick skin. Each segment is enclosed in fine pinkish veins. It is 8 cm across and has flower sepals attached to the stalk end. It leaks yellow sap from wounds. Fruit is produced on side branches near to the tips of the main branches. Fruit often have no seeds or up to 2. These are not true seeds but they will grow.

Edible Uses

The white fruit is eaten raw and is considered delicious — aromatic and juicy with a texture so soft it almost melts in the mouth and a sweet, delicate flavour. About the size of an apple, removing the skin reveals approximately 6 kernels of white pulp with a flavour that is tart and sweet, resembling a cross between grapes and strawberries. The fruit is a globose berry 34–75mm in diameter. Fruits with the highest number of stigma lobes at the apex have the most fleshy segments and fewest seeds and are considered the best table fruit. The seeds are occasionally eaten after boiling or roasting, adding a delicious nutty flavour to preserves when cooked with the pulp.

Traditional Uses

Fruit is best eaten fresh. It is the arillus or layer around the seeds which is eaten. They are also cooked and used in desserts. The seeds are eaten after boiling or roasting. They can be ground to produce a vegetable butter.

Medicinal Uses

The rind is astringent and has been used internally to treat dysentery, diarrhoea, cystitis, and gonorrhoea, and applied externally for eczema and other skin disorders. Partially ripe fruit rind yields a polyhydroxy-xanthone derivative called mangostin, while fully ripe fruit rind contains the xanthones gartanin, 8-disoxygartanin, and normangostin. A derivative of mangostin, mangostin-e,6-di-O-glucoside, acts as 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 treatment for 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.

Distribution

It is a tropical plant. It needs a hot humid climate (25°C to 35°C). Temperatures below 5°C will kill the plant and temperatures below 20°C slow growth. It grows from sea level up to 1000 m altitude in the equatorial tropics although they grow very slowly at this altitude. It can stand light shade. It often does not do well with sea breezes, and needs protection from wind. It cannot tolerate drought. It needs fertile soil. Good fertility enables earlier bearing. It suits high rainfall areas over 2500 mm per year. It cannot tolerate alkaline soils. It needs a pH between 5.5-6.8. It grows between 10°N-10°S. It suits hardiness zones 11-12.

Where It Grows

Africa, Andamans, Asia, Australia, Bangladesh, Brazil, Cambodia, Cameroon, Central Africa, Central America, China, Colombia, Congo DR, Cook Islands, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, East Africa, East Timor, Ecuador, Fiji, Ghana, Haiti, Hawaii, India, Indochina, Indonesia*, Jamaica, Laos, Malaysia, Mexico, Myanmar, Nicaragua, North America, Pacific, Palau, Papua New Guinea, PNG, Philippines, Pohnpei, Puerto Rico, Sao Tome and Principe, SE Asia, Singapore, Solomon Islands, South America, Sri Lanka, Suriname, Taiwan, Thailand, Timor-Leste, USA, Vietnam, West Africa, West Indies, Zambia,

Cultivation

Trees breed true from seed because they are produced asexually. This means trees are very uniform. As well some seeds can produce more than one seedling. They germinate between 10 and 54 days. Seeds need to be fresh (less than 5 days after extraction) and undamaged, and cleaned of pulp. They quickly lose their viability. Transplanting is done with care after 2 years. Long tap roots make this difficult. Young trees require shade during hot weather. The slow early growth is because the original roots of the seedling are replaced by new roots from the base of the stem. A spacing of 7 - 10 m suits. Grafting onto vigorous root stocks is difficult. It has been performed on Garcinia tinctoria. Budding, cuttings and layering have been unsuccessful.

Propagation

Seed has very short viability and should be sown as soon as it is ripe. Technically, the 'seeds' are not true seeds but adventitious embryos or hypocotyl tubercles formed without sexual fertilisation. A shoot emerges from one end and a root from the other, though this root is short-lived and replaced by roots developing at the base of the shoot. Because reproduction is vegetative, there is little variation among resulting trees and fruits. Some seeds are polyembryonic, producing more than one shoot; individual nucellar embryos can be separated before planting if desired. Germination percentage is directly related to seed weight — only plump, fully developed seeds should be selected. Because of the long, delicate taproot and poor lateral root development, transplanting is notoriously difficult and must not be attempted once plants reach 60cm, at which point the taproot may already exceed the height of the plant. Seedling survival is greater when seeds are planted directly in the nursery row rather than started in containers. Nursery soil should be at least 1 metre deep. Young plants take 2 or more years to reach 30cm, after which they can be lifted with a deep ball of earth. Seeds are recalcitrant and should be stored in the fruit at room temperature or in moist peat moss; removed from the fruit, they lose viability within 5 days, though they remain viable for 3–5 weeks inside the fruit. Viability can be maintained for 1–2 months in moist storage at 20°C; storage at 10°C is damaging. Propagation is also possible from greenwood cuttings and by budding onto seedlings.

Other Uses

The fruit rind is a source of tannins, containing 7–14% catechin tannin and rosin, and can be used as a black dye. The twigs are used as chewsticks. The fruit hulls show antifungal and antiprotozoal activity. The dark-brown wood is strong, heavy enough to almost sink in water, and moderately durable. Usually only available in small sizes, it has been used in construction and cabinetwork and for making spear handles and rice pounders.

Production

Trees are slow growing and begin to bear after 8-20 years. Fruit are produced on shoots which are more than two years old so pruning is unnecessary. Fruiting is seasonal once or twice a year. Often more fruit are produced every second year. The main fruiting season is November to March. Fruit need to be harvested when mature and ripe. Fruit can only be transported with difficulty. They can be stored under refrigeration. (10°C for up to eight weeks). Between 500 to 1500 fruit are produced per tree. Fruit are best opened by cutting the skin around the middle to prevent tannins from the skin spoiling the flavour. Fruit can be stored for 3 weeks if undamaged.

Other Information

It is a cultivated food plant. A few trees have been planted in lowland areas of Papua New Guinea. It is a very popular fruit. It is commercially cultivated.

Notes

There are about 300 Garcinia species. Correct name is probably Garcinia x mangostana L.

Nutrition

Synonyms

Also Known As

Cay mang-cut, Gamus, Kokam, Lashai, Manggis, Mangistan, Mangkhud, Mangkhut, Mangkut, Mangostan, Mangostane, Mangostanier, Mangostano, Mangostao, Mangosuchin, Mangus kai, Mangus, Mangusta, Mangustan, Mangut, Masta, Mingut thi, Mongkhut, Mungkud, Ple semeta, Pohon manggis manis, Sulambali

References (120)

• Mangosteen references Garcinia mangostana
• Abbiw, D.K., 1990, Useful Plants of Ghana. West African uses of wild and cultivated plants. Intermediate Technology Publications and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. p 46
• Alain & Martorell. 1982. Flora of Puerto Rico.
• Alexander, D.M., Scholefield, P.B., Frodsham, A., 1982, Some tree fruits for tropical Australia. CSIRO, Australia. p 37
• Allen, B.M., 1975, Common Malaysian Fruits. Longmans. p

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