Mangosteen: the latest super-fruit
SARAH MUSGRAVE, The Gazette
Published: Saturday, September 22
The sip: XanGo mangosteen juiceThe price: $38 for 750 mL
The smell: Raspberry jam
The look: The bottle is curvy and sporty, and emblazoned with the words "Discover the goodness!" The liquid pours out dark, thick and impenetrable, a remarkably deep ruby colour.
The taste: Red licorice concentrate. It's tangy with black currants and berries, though there's barely a taste of the delicate mangosteen itself in this blended beverage. The texture is a refined pulp that a lot of folks would see fit to water down before imbibing.
The story: We've done pomegranates. We've done açaí. We've done gobi. So what's the super-fruit of the week and what's the buzzword that comes with it? That would be the mangosteen, a South Asian crop with a lychee-like appearance and a flavour reminiscent of grapes and pears. Do we really need scientists to tell us what people who have eaten this stuff for centuries already know? Maybe we do, because immune-bolstering antioxidants called xanthones appear to be its ticket to fame. As a result, mangosteen sales are looking up. For a lesser star of the fruit world, it suddenly has an amazing number of manufacturers.
