What Is a Mangosteen and What Does It Taste Like?

The mangosteen is an elusive tropical fruit. It is a round, purple fruit about the size of a tangerine, with smooth, firm skin that appears impenetrable. That skin protects a treasure nestled inside: tender segments of soft white flesh that are sweet with traces of floral tartness. The high price of this hard-to-find fruit may make you wonder how best to prepare and eat mangosteens so you don't waste a morsel. Read on to learn more about mangosteens, including where to buy them and the best way to eat them.

What Does a Mangosteen Look Like?

Mangosteen has a thick outer layer with soft, white segments inside. At the stem end of the mangosteen are leaf-like calyxes. If the mangosteen is exceptionally fresh the calyxes may still be a rosy-green. On the bottom of the fruit is a tiny flower-like pattern, resembling a stamp. It is the collection of stigma lobes and you should count them: Their number varies, but it corresponds exactly to a number of pure white fruit segments inside the shell. One segment is more plump than the others and contains a seed.

Where to Buy Mangosteen

In most brick-and-mortar stores in the United States, mangosteens are hard to find. Asian fresh produce markets are an exception, and even then the fruit appears briefly because the mangosteen season can be short. Most of the mangosteens sold in the U.S. are grown in Southeast Asia, especially in Thailand, which grows and exports more of the fruit than any other country.

The reason they remain relatively unfamiliar in the U.S. is because the import of fresh mangosteens (and other tropical fruits) from Asia was banned until 2007 because of concerns that they would introduce an agricultural pest—a fruit fly—to the country. The ban was lifted subject to the fruit being irradiated, and imported Asian mangosteens are now permitted.

When to Buy Mangosteen

Mangosteens ripen in the tropical rainy season. Above the equator, June to August is the primary harvest season and usually, there is only one. Closer to the equator, there is a chance of a second harvest.

One of the most reliable places to find fresh mangosteens is at an Asian fresh produce market in a big city during the summer. They are packaged in little net bags at prices ranging from $10 to $15 (or more) per pound. Occasionally, high-end gourmet stores may sell them priced individually, but these are generally far more expensive. Increasingly, mangosteens are available online, usually in summer.

How to Eat Mangosteens

Ultimately, the best way to enjoy a mangosteen is as simply as possible. Its delicate flavor and lychee-like texture are best appreciated when served raw, allowing the fruit's natural qualities to come through.

Eat your mangosteens soon after buying the fruit—they don't improve with time. Very fresh mangosteens are still pliable and can be cracked open by being squeezed between the palms of your hand. But for most mangosteens, days or weeks from their mother tree, a sharp, serrated knife is required.

Place your fruit on a cutting board and cut a shallow, careful hemisphere around it, trying not to slice into the delicate segments within. Twist, and lift off half the shell. The lovely white flesh is revealed, encircled in purple. Arrange the fruit on a platter, and serve with dessert forks to lift out each piece. It will be a memorable event.