through the shell, one finds edible flesh shaped like a peeled tangerine but bright white, about 3-5 cm in diameter, nested in a deep red outer pod. Depending on the fruit size and ripeness, there might be seeds in the segments of the white edible part of the fruit. The seeds, however, are not edible unless cooked. The number of fruit pods is directly related to the number of petals on the bottom of the shell. On average a mangosteen has 5 fruits (round up figure). The plant does not start producing fruit until around 15 years old, which is somewhat an impediment to cultivation.
There is a story, possibly apocryphal, about Queen Victoria offering a cash reward to anyone who could deliver to her the fabled fruit. Although available in cans and frozen, mangosteens are rarely sold fresh in Western countries except rarely in some Asian grocery stores; they are illegal to import without fumigation or irradiation as whole fruit into the United States due to fears that they harbor the Asian fruit fly which would devastate US crops if it were ever introduced. In the future new irradiation techniques may allow importation of this delicacy. Products derived from the mangosteen are legally imported into the U.S. such as juices, freeze-dried fruit and nutritional supplements. The fresh fruit is also available in Vancouver, British Columbia.
The mangosteen is now grown and sold on some of the Hawaiian islands, although presently not exported to the continental U.S. for the reasons stated above. However, Hawaiian growers are working with a Honolulu irradiation facility for future export to the continental United States. The mangosteen is also grown, and very popular in Central Africa, and particularly in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. An ultra-tropical, the Mangosteen tree must be grown in consistently warm conditions; exposure to temperatures below 40 °F (4 °C) will generally kill a mature plant.
The shell of mangosteens looks tough and hard, but they are soft and easy to open. To open a mangosteen, the shell is usually broken apart, not cut; one holds the fruit in both hands, and presses it gently (thumbs on one side, the other fingers on the other) until the shell cracks. It is then very easy to pull the halves apart along the crack and remove the fruit, taking care with the purplish, inky juice that the outer red part of the fruit contains. Mangosteen juice is a dye which can be almost impossible to remove from fabric (the reason why they are banned from some hotels in countries where they are available).
The softer the shell, the riper the fruit and hence the more tempting it is to try and press harder. Since it isn't exactly a shell but a thick soft covering the slightest force (when ripe) will dig into the shell and adversely affect the fruit inside. The fruit will not stay good for long afterwards.
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