Mangosteen: Tomorrow's Aloe

I stood in amazement as my college roommate cut off part of an aloe plant and rubbed it on his burn. A piece of a plant was going to heal the burn? It did. A third-degree burn turned to a mild red blemish before my eyes. Aloe was on the rise, moving from the pet solution of a few odd people to more general use. Mangosteen is on the same path, moving from relative obscurity to general use.

The mangosteen fruit (sometimes spelled mangosten, mangostein) is also coming out of the closet and into the spotlight of health discussions because it offers a powerful solution to old problems.

The Secret Sauce of Aloe

Scientists eventually figured out why aloe works. Part of the magic comes from a phytochemical called catechins, a natural antioxidant. Green tea has them as does the mangosteen only in much higher concentrations. Note the pattern: the local natives use a solution that catches the eye of scientists and eventually they confirm what the natives knew by experience.

The Rise of a Legend

As early as 600 AD, scribes noted the powerful healing effect of the mangosteen prepared by sun-rind the rind and using the power in a number of ways.

Legend has it that Queen Victoria offered a reward to anyone who could deliver to her a fresh mangosteen. This earned the designation of "Queen of Fruit" for the mangosteen.

James Herbert Veitch visited Java in 1892, "to eat the Mangosteen. It is necessary to eat the Mangosteen grown within three or four degrees of latitude of the equator to realize at all the attractive and curious properties of this fruit."

Researchers, based on the claims of native tribes in Southeast Asia, began to investigate the healing properties of the mangosteen over 40 years ago. There is a growing body of research that recognizes that the xanthones found in the rind (or pericarp as refer to as) are responsible for its powerful antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-bacterial properties.

Mangosteen and the Innovation "S" Curve New solutions to old problems often grow in an "S" Curse. At the bottom of the S, only a few know about the solutions and these few are rarely respected by the rest of the population. Then when it becomes apparent that it solves problems better than current solutions, it grows slowly up the "S." Growth accelerates when opinion leaders take notice and begin to endorse the new solution.

Dr. Oz recently endorsed the mangosteen fruit as one of his top five "superfoods." The NY and LA Times have jumped on the bandwagons with impressive endorsements in the last few years. People are taking notice. Xango is one of the fastest growing brands, a mangosteen juice supplier. And as in other industries, follow on suppliers such as the Mangosteen 100 are providing more value for less money as the market matures.

The mangosteen boasts of being a powerful antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial, anti-fungal agent. While many clinical studies support these claims, the research should not be considered conclusive.

Mangosteen is moving up the "S" innovation curve as many other solutions to old problems have. Opinion leaders are fueling it and by my predictions, will only grow and mature in the next 20 years.