• In the Hokkien used in Singapore, mangosteens are also referred to as “芒吉”, likely a transliteration of manggis, the name of the fruit in Malay and Indonesian.
• The origins of the fruit are unknown, but one belief is that mangosteens originated from the Sunda and Maluku Islands. Wild mangosteens are also found in Kemaman in Terengganu, Malaysia. Mangosteens grow mainly in Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines, where Europeans first encountered them. Some scholars believe that mangosteens were first cultivated in Thailand or Myanmar.
• Mangosteen trees are large trees that can grow up to 15 metres in height; they have oval leaves and red flowers.
• It is said that around the year 1890, Queen Victoria found the flesh of the mangosteen so delicious that she offered a knighthood to anyone who could bring her more of the fruit. This was how it came to be known as the “Queen of Fruits”.

Many people like to eat durians with mangosteens because mangosteens are considered a “neutral” fruit with somewhat “cooling” properties. They are believed to have the effect of reducing dryness, and of cooling the body and relieving heat – ideal for neutralising the “heatiness” of durian. (Lianhe Wanbao, 30/5/2015)

莽吉柿 (Mainland China), 倒捻子 (Mainland China), 山竺 (Malaysia)

• The scientific name of the mangosteen is Garcinia mangostana.
• Mangosteens were planted in Sri Lanka around the 1800s and introduced into greenhouses in England in 1855. They were introduced from the Royal Botanic Gardens to Trinidad between 1850 and 1860, bearing the first fruits in 1875. In 1881, mangosteens were planted in India, and appeared in Central and South America in 1903. In 1924, mangosteens were discovered growing in Ecuador.