Tropical fruit mangosteen, description of the plant, growing conditions, composition of garcinia, useful properties, applications. The indicator of energy value varies according to different sources, which is justified by fluctuations in the quantitative ratio of organic substances contained in the pulp. The calorie content of mangosteen is from 60 to 65 kcal per 100 g of product, of which:
- Proteins - from 0.5 to 0.6 g;
- Carbohydrates - from 14, 3 to 15, 5 g;
- Fats - from 0.1 to 0.6 g;
- Fiber - from 5 to 5, 1 g;
- Cholesterol - 0 g;
- Saturated Fat - 0 g;
- Sugar - from 16.4 to 16.8 g.
It turns out that in order to replenish 13% of the required daily intake of fiber in the body, it is enough to consume 100 g of mangosteen pulp. Also, when eating garcinia, you should not be afraid of clogging of blood vessels with cholesterol.
Useful properties of garcinia
Any food product, to a greater or lesser extent, has both beneficial properties and contraindications for use. Let's look at these issues in more detail in order to assess the benefit-harm ratio of garcinia.
The benefits of mangosteen depend entirely on its composition. This fruit has been used for many years in Southeast Asia, the Philippines and other countries as a traditional medicine for a number of health problems.
Action:
- Immunostimulating … By improving the functioning of the lymphatic system, mangosteen helps to strengthen the immune system.
- Nutritious … With the intake of mangosteen in food, the body receives many essential substances.
- Protective … Helps to improve protective barriers against external influences, for example, ultraviolet radiation, free radicals.
- Anti-inflammatory … Reduces the intensity of inflammatory processes, is able to prevent the occurrence of arthritis, neuralgia, as well as other serious diseases, such as hypertension, kidney stones, glaucoma, Alzheimer's and Lyme's disease, acne.
- Antiallergic … Reduces the severity of allergic reactions.
- Antibacterial, antifungal … Xanthones, penetrating into the cell, destroy bacteria, preventing them from starting to affect DNA, which allows the preservation of human genetic material.
- Antioxidant … Normalizes the production of collagen and elastin, which are important for preserving youth. Improves the supply of nutrients to cells, increases the protective functions of the body, promotes the elimination of hazardous substances and decay products.
- Anticancer … Studies carried out at the Sloan-Kettering Institute Cancer Center led to the conclusion that xanthones, which are part of mangosteen, are able to force cancer cells to self-destruct.
- Normalization of the body … Improving the course of metabolic processes inevitably affects the improvement of the working capacity of all body systems.
The use of mangosteen as a medicine is justified in many cases. Here are some examples of ailments that garcinia pulp helps to cope with:
- The cardiovascular system … The problem of vascular permeability, impaired hematopoiesis and the need to stabilize coagulability, improve blood supply.
- Nervous system … Difficulty transmitting nerve impulses, reducing stress conditions, reducing excitability, getting rid of migraines, improving brain activity.
- Gastrointestinal tract … Enzyme production.
- Body mass … Excess weight, the need to dissolve fat deposits.
- Endocrine system … Disruption of hormone production.
Side effects of the fruit of the gods
Despite the obvious beneficial properties, you should still eat this fruit with caution and dose its portions, because when consumed in excess, it can have more than just beneficial effects.
The harm of mangosteen can be described in several points:
- Some components can disrupt the rate of blood clotting, but this happens in exceptional cases. Therefore, it is not recommended to consume the fruit for persons taking blood-thinning medications.
- Has a mild sedative effect, slowing down the reaction rate if other drugs are used.
- An increase in the level of acidity in the gastrointestinal tract is possible.
- The occurrence of allergic reactions due to individual intolerance to any component of mangosteen.
It is noteworthy that in the event of side effects, it is enough to abandon the use of garcinia fruits or reduce the dose to 1 tablespoon 3 times a day. Treatment of symptoms does not involve taking any medication. mangosteen is a non-toxic fruit.
How to choose the right mangosteen
The tropical fruit has several uses: in cooking, cosmetology, medicine. Before you figure out the use cases, you need to learn how to choose the right fruits in order to buy a ripe juicy product.
After the fruits of garcinia are harvested from the branches, their shelf life is quite limited (up to 2 weeks with proper storage and transportation), so it is quite difficult to find high-quality mangosteen in our country. Most often they can be found frozen, in the form of juice - here the problem of choice is practically not worth it due to the lack of a variety of options.
If you buy garcinia in tropical countries, you need to pay special attention to the choice. So, the cost of 1 kilogram of mangosteen in resort cities varies from $ 0.55 to $ 5. A high price may not always be a guarantee of good quality. The high cost is due to the complexity of growing, maintaining the necessary growing conditions, manual harvesting.
Tips for choosing garcinia fruits:
- The rind should be firm, not dry. If it is soft or hard and cracked, then the fruit is overripe or not yet ripe. When pressed, the shell should spring slightly.
- Sheath color - bright purple, without spots. The presence of stains indicates long-term storage, the taste may not be the best.
- If the peel is damaged, then there is a high probability of its bitter juice getting inside to the core, due to which the taste of the mangosteen can be spoiled. Therefore, select only whole specimens.
- A normal fruit is weighty, felt in the hand.
- Give preference to larger fruits, they also have a larger core.
- The leaves on the garcinia can also tell about its quality: the brown color of the leaves indicates that the fruit is overripe, and it is quite possible that the decay process has already begun. The leaves on top of the head should be bright green.
How Mong Khut is cleaned
The mangosteen must be peeled carefully and carefully so as not to damage the pulp in the process.
Here are some tips for peeling garcinia fruits:
- Tear off the top leaves. Press lightly on the top of the fruit to break the peel and release the flesh. Such manipulations are effective when the fruit is at its maximum ripeness.
- If the peel does not crack with light pressure, then it is better to resort to using a knife.
- Make a shallow circular cut, then use your fingers to pry open the fruit to reach the core.
- When peeling very hard-shelled mangosteen with a knife, be extremely careful as it will there is a high probability of the knife slipping and getting injured.
How to eat mangosteen
The taste of mangosteen is difficult to describe. The first thing that comes to mind is sweet and sour, fresh, unique. It is eaten raw or processed. It is supplied to the market both fresh, frozen and dried. Processed fruits slightly lose their natural aroma, taste and some useful properties.
Let's take a closer look at how mangosteen is eaten:
- After cleaning, the pulp is chopped with a blender and added as a dressing to fruit salads, an additional ingredient in mousses, cocktails, as well as sauces for fish or meat.
- The crushed core can be incorporated into pie dough, mixed with ice cream or yogurt.
- Briefly boiling garcinia flesh with brown sugar and cinnamon makes it easy to make mangosteen jam.
- The seeds can be eaten by roasting them beforehand.
- The soft rind is processed and added to gelatin diluted in water to obtain a wonderful jelly with an exotic taste.
- A unique combination of mangosteen with seafood such as shrimp or squid.
- The simplest and most common way is to serve freshly minced fruit pith on a pad of crushed ice.
- Mangosteen juice is also made. It is noteworthy that not only the pulp goes into it, but also the peel, which contains a greater amount of nutrients. Due to the crushed shell, the taste of the juice deteriorates, therefore, to improve its taste, manufacturers often mix in juices from other fruits.
The use of garcinia in medicine
The harvested dried fruit of mangosteen is widely used in folk medicine. The most useful is the peel of the fruit, because contains more valuable substances.
The options for using the mangosteen fruit as a medicine are as follows:
- Shredded dried peel is used for dysentery.
- You can make a decoction from the bark of a tree to combat diarrhea, cystitis, gonorrhea, urethritis.
- By treating an open wound with a decoction from the bark, you can achieve rapid blood coagulation and avoid large blood loss.
- To combat fever, stomatitis and diseases of the urinary tract, a decoction is made from leaves and bark.
- Decoctions from the root of mangosteen are used for irregularities in the menstrual cycle.
- The baked pulp is soaked in water and added to the puree, which should be consumed every 2 hours to treat diarrhea.
Watch a video about mangosteen:
It is impossible to buy mangosteen in a regular grocery store in our country. Even in the most advanced hypermarkets, it is difficult to find a quality product due to the difficulties in transportation and storage. The most ripe and healthy fruits are sold in tropical countries, starting in May and ending in August-September.
