Sunday, January 15, 2012

Freshly plucked mangosteens!

Mangosteens straight from the tree

YUM! These mangosteens (Garcinia mangostana) are freshly plucked, straight from the tree. It doesn't get any fresher than this! Very juicy, sweet with just the right amount of sour for that extra "kick".

People say the mangosteen is the queen of tropical fruits, it's opposite is the durian, the king of tropical fruits. Durian is considered a very "heaty" fruit while mangosteen is cooling and since they are both often sold together, they are also consumed together. The cooling effect of mangosteen helps counter the effects of consuming too much heaty durian. I don't like durian but I really love mangosteens!


A large one in the palm of my hand, look at that juicy yummy white flesh... Really nice when first chilled in the fridge. The large segment can be planted as it has a viable seed inside. However, once the white aril is eaten, the seed must be immediately planted to increase chances of it germinating. Over the past few weeks, we've germinated lots of mangosteen seeds and now have a few seedlings planted in poly-bags.


This is the fastest and easiest way to open a mangosteen. Place a ripe fruit between your palms and pop it open!

Mangosteen skin tea

We don't throw away the skin. After a thorough wash, we chop them up like this and dry them in the sun. Once dry (be sure they are fungus free), they can be stored in large plastic containers and should keep for a while especially if you place a desiccant (silica gel or beads) pack inside and store in a cool place.


The skin makes a rather bland tasting (tastes and smells a bit like dabai, actually) tea which contains some health benefits and anti-cancer properties. Please do your own research and read up on the uses before you start making and consuming your own tea! Some people cannot take this tea, for example, my dad suffers side effects from drinking the tea but not my mom.

The mangosteen is a really delicious fruit which unfortunately only comes by once a year during the end-of-year tropical fruit season. I relish this fruit and will often stop to buy some if I see any for sale. They are usually sold for RM5 or RM6 per kilo but further in the countryside, they sometimes go for as little as RM2 per kilo.

5 comments:

vinesandspines said...

NIIIICEEE!! YUM! and theyre big ones too!

vinesandspines said...

droool. i can taste them now.

Ensurai said...

Such big ones...these are getting rarer now...

sarawaklens said...

@vines, ever tried mangosteen skin tea?
@sarawakiana, maybe kurang baja? :)

sarawaklens said...

BTW Chris, I posted this using that scribfire addon I told u about. Much faster when uploading than windows writer but it has less editing and formatting options.

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