Mangosteen

Description

Background
The mangosteen is a queen among the well-known fruits and one of the most popular exotic species – not only in Sri Lanka! The fruit is very rich in antioxidants and therefore more effective than vitamin E! In addition to the notable content of calcium, phosphorus and iron, it also contains a total of 12 vitamins. The high water content in the pulp ensures a refreshing effect.

Taste and ripeness
This mostly tomato-sized fruit should already be purple in color and the firm, leathery skin should give way softly and elastically at the touch of a finger. Overripe fruits become rock hard and are mostly inedible. The refreshingly juicy, intense, exotic taste of a perfect fruit is mildly sour and has its own character. The mangosteen is reminiscent of a tangy, fruity lemon ice experience.

The fruits are green first, then turn pink in the tree and can be harvested when the color is already purple. At the same time, the fruit slowly becomes soft and when it is completely purple, it is fully ripe. When overripe, the fruit slowly begins to harden again. If it is already so hard that it can hardly be opened, it is usually bad.

We usually send the fruits so that they arrive fully ripe and should be consumed immediately or stored in the refrigerator, where they can easily be kept for up to a week.

Time of harvest and transportation
It is very important to harvest the fruits as late and as tree-ready as possible. The color of the shell is the deciding factor here. Sometimes the skin has yellow or brown spots. Transport damage rarely occurs because the skin is fairly stable at 6-9 mm and protects the white, juicy pulp well.

 

Tips & Tricks
The soft skin of the mangosteen can be easily broken open with your fingers, easiest along the equator of the fruit. the pulp then sticks in one half, while the other can be easily removed. Now the view of the snow-white or ivory-colored flesh is clear and the individual fruit segments are arranged like a tangerine. With your fingers or a fork as an aid, the pulp can be easily removed and enjoyed straight. The flat seeds, which are available in various sizes and irregularly, can be eaten with ease. Ripe fruit can be kept chilled for some time.

Delicacy
The thick shell of the mangosteen is not edible, but accounts for most of the weight. If you want to eat enough of this fruit, you need a few kilos of it – this fruit is more of a special dessert and should be enjoyed consciously.

Bad mangosteen!
Problems with the yellow fruit juice:
Sometimes parts of the pulp are yellow and bitter. Exactly why this is unclear. We have not yet been able to find out how we can clearly identify such fruits. This cannot be seen from the outside. Of course we try to sort out as many fruits as possible in order to have as few bad fruits as possible. If there is a bad fruit and you have any clues as to what it could be, a feedback would be great.
Hard flesh: Sometimes the flesh is greyish and a little harder than usual, this is extremely rare and again we have no clue as to the cause. With a natural product like mangosteen, it is next to impossible that all fruits are perfect. That should be clear to everyone!