As of July 23, 2007 the FDA lifted the ban on the Mangosteen, but its actually been around longer. This strange and mysterious fruit from the South Pacific is starting to find its way into more mainstream beverages. The credit for first opening the eyes of the American public was a Utah based company that introduced Xango, a beverage consisting of Mangosteen juice. Before then the Mangosteen was only being served as a dessert delicacy in high end fine dining establishments. Even then restaurants had to source the fruit through a Puetro Rican company that handled small volume orders.
The debate is being waged in the scientific community as we speak about the health or non health benefits for the Mangosteen. The arils or seeds are said to have a high amount of Xanthones, which has anti-cancer properties. The mangosteen's arils only contain one of the qualities of the so called "Superfruits, that being Xanthones. Mangosteen's rind however has several properties. People in the South Pacific have used the rind for anti-inflammatory, anti-fungal and antiseptic reasons for centuries.
Whether or not it is found to have "Superfruit" qualities, the Mangosteen has made its splash among the health conscious public and we will continue to see more and more food and beverage products contain this mysterious and much debated tropical fruit. We encourage you to go out and try a Mangosteen flavored drink and send back your thoughts and a picture of that drink so we can share with everyone.
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