Mangosteen: Fruit, Benefits Research, Nutrition and Safety

Mangosteen is a small tropical fruit with a thick, deep purple rind and soft, white, sweet-tart segments inside. The edible fruit is a popular dessert fruit across Southeast Asia, while the rind is the source of xanthones, plant compounds sold in mangosteen juices and capsules. The research on mangosteen benefits is mostly lab and animal work, with a few small human trials, and official sources describe human evidence as limited. Below is what the mangosteen fruit is, what USDA data do and do not cover, what the studies found, and the safety facts for juices and supplements.

Peptide Labs does not sell mangosteen or mangosteen products. This article is general nutrition information, not medical advice.

What is mangosteen fruit?

Mangosteen grows on evergreen trees native to Southeast Asia and is unrelated to mango despite the name. The fruit is small and round, and inside the hard rind sit several white segments, a few with seeds. The flavor is usually described as sweet and tangy, somewhere between peach, lychee and citrus.

Fresh mangosteen was hard to find in the US mainland for years because of plant pest rules. A USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service rule that took effect on July 23, 2007 allowed fresh mangosteen from Thailand if it is grown in registered areas, irradiated in Thailand and inspected. The same rule covered litchi, longan, mango, pineapple and rambutan. Today you will see fresh, frozen and canned mangosteen in Asian markets.

One naming trap: mangosteen shares the genus Garcinia with Garcinia cambogia, a different species whose rind is sold in weight-loss supplements for hydroxycitric acid. They are separate plants with separate research; see our Garcinia cambogia guide for that one.

Mangosteen nutrition: what USDA lists

The USDA FoodData Central SR Legacy database, the source for every food table on this site, has no entry for raw mangosteen. Its only mangosteen entry is canned mangosteen in syrup (FDC 169090), which includes the effect of the syrup and lists no total sugars value. Here is how that entry compares with other fruits per 100 grams.

In USDA data, 100 grams of canned mangosteen also provides 31 micrograms of folate (8% DV), small amounts of magnesium, copper and manganese, and almost no protein or fat. The low vitamin C reflects canning; values for fresh mangosteen are not in SR Legacy, so read the Nutrition Facts label on frozen or canned packs. If vitamin C is the goal, the raw lychee and longan rows, and our guides to kiwi and vitamin C sources, show far higher numbers. Canned fruit in syrup adds sugar; our guide to fruit sugar levels and our pineapple guide compare fresh and canned options.

Xanthones: the compounds behind mangosteen supplement claims

Xanthones are a group of plant compounds concentrated in mangosteen rind, also called the pericarp. Alpha-mangostin is the most abundant one. In lab and animal studies, xanthones show antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activity, which is why they appear on juice and capsule labels. Two cautions apply. Lab results do not show effects in people, as our guide to antioxidant-rich foods explains. And the white segments you eat contain far less of these rind compounds than extracts do, so eating the fruit and taking a concentrated extract are not the same thing.

Mangosteen benefits: what human research shows

Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center’s About Herbs database describes human evidence for mangosteen as limited, with small studies that need confirmation. The main threads:

• Mood research (2025): a 24-week randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial in the British Journal of Psychiatry gave adults with bipolar depression mangosteen rind extract or placebo alongside their usual care. Seventy and 82 people were randomized; 50 and 64 were analysed. The main result gave limited support, some secondary measures improved at week 24, and the differences faded after stopping. The authors called for replication.
• Gum research: systematic reviews in 2025 and 2026 pooled small trials that applied mangosteen preparations in the gums alongside dental care. These are dental research products, not store-bought juice.
• Blood sugar: a 2024 network meta-analysis covered studies in diabetic rodents only; its authors said human trials are needed.

None of this shows that mangosteen juice or capsules improve any health condition. In 2006 FDA sent a warning letter to a mangosteen juice marketer whose distributor brochures made disease claims, a reminder that marketing can run far ahead of evidence.

Mangosteen juice and supplement safety

Eating the fruit in normal amounts is a common food practice. Concentrated juices and extracts raise more questions:

• Lactic acidosis case: a 2008 report in the American Journal of Kidney Diseases described severe lactic acidosis in a person who drank mangosteen juice as a supplement; Memorial Sloan Kettering notes daily use for 12 months. It is a single case, but a serious one.
• Drug interactions: Memorial Sloan Kettering lists possible interference with some chemotherapy drugs, lab evidence that mangosteen inhibits several cytochrome P450 liver enzymes that process medicines, and possible additive effects with the immunosuppressants cyclosporine and tacrolimus.
• Who should ask first: people receiving cancer care, transplant recipients, anyone on multiple prescriptions, people managing diabetes (Memorial Sloan Kettering flags the sugar content of juice products), and people who are pregnant or breastfeeding.
• Sugar: juice blends and canned fruit can be high in sugar; read the label.
• Quality: supplements are not approved by FDA before sale, so look for independent testing, as our guide to third-party tested supplements explains.

How to eat mangosteen

• Pick: choose fruit with deep purple, slightly yielding rind and fresh green caps; very hard rinds can be dried out.
• Open: score the rind around the middle with a knife without cutting into the flesh, then twist the halves apart, or press the fruit gently between your palms until the rind cracks.
• Eat: lift out the white segments; larger segments may hold a seed, which most people spit out.
• Stains: the purple rind juice stains fabric and countertops.

For another Southeast Asian fruit with full USDA coverage and a famous smell, see our sibling guide to durian.

Frequently Asked Questions

Questions about a label? Contact us or read our Buyer’s Guide. Food comes first; follow the label and ask a healthcare provider before starting a supplement, especially if you take medicines, are pregnant or have a food allergy. These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

Last reviewed October 2026.

Related guides: Durian: Nutrition, Smell, Benefits and Safety Facts, Lychee: USDA Nutrition, Calories, Benefits and Safety Facts, Foods High in Antioxidants: USDA Chart and What the Science Says.