Food Technology Service, Inc. (VIFL)

[TechKim]

Mangosteen and irradication

There is a story, possibly apocryphal, about Queen Victoria offering a cash reward to anyone who could deliver to her the fabled fruit[5]. Although available in cans and frozen, mangosteens are rarely sold fresh in Western countries except in some Asian grocery stores (and Tesco).

Without fumigation or irradiation as whole fruit, mangosteens have been illegal for importation in commercial volumes into the United States due to fears that they harbor the Asian fruit fly which would endanger US crops. This situation, however, officially changed on July 23, 2007 when irradiated imports from Thailand were allowed upon FDA approval of irradiation, packing and shipping techniques[6].

For the period since 2006 to present, private small volume orders from fruits grown on Puerto Rico are being filled for American gourmet restaurants who serve the aril pieces as a delicacy dessert[7] . Beginning in 2007 for the first time, fresh mangosteens are also being sold for as high as $45 per pound from specialty produce stores in New York City[8].

Products derived from the mangosteen are legally imported into the United States, such as juices, freeze-dried fruit and nutritional supplements. The fresh fruit is also available in Australia, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia, Colombia (especially in Mariquita, a town in Tolima), the Philippines, Sri Lanka and Chinatowns of Victoria, Vancouver, and Montreal, Canada.

Mangosteen is cultivated and sold on some Hawaiian islands, although presently not exported to the continental United States where it is banned as an insect host (see above). However, Hawaiian growers are working with a Honolulu irradiation facility for future export to the United States mainland. Mangosteen is grown in Central Africa, particularly the Democratic Republic of the Congo where it is a popular delicacy. An ultra-tropical tree, the mangosteen must be grown in consistently warm conditions, as exposure to temperatures below 40°F (4°C) will generally kill a mature plant.