PHYTOTHERAPY RESEARCH

Phytother. Res. 23, 1047–1065 (2009)

Published online 27 January 2009 in Wiley InterScience
GARCINIA MANGOSTANA L. REVIEW 1047
(www.interscience.wiley.com) DOI: 10.1002/ptr.2730

REVIEW ARTICLE
Garcinia mangostana L.: A Phytochemical and
Pharmacological Review

Dmitriy Obolskiy1, Ivo Pischel,2 Nisarat Siriwatanametanon1 and Michael Heinrich1*

1
Center for Pharmacognosy and Phytotherapy, The School of Pharmacy (University of London), 29–39 Brunswick Square,
London WC1N 1AX, UK
2
Phytolab GmbH & Co. KG, Dutendorfer Str. 5–7, D-91487 Vestenbergsgreuth, Germany

Garcinia mangostana L. (mangosteen, Clusiaceae) has a long history of use as a medical plant, mostly in
Southeast Asia. This is a review of the phytochemistry and pharmacology of mangosteen. Traditionally
mangosteen is famous for its antiinflammatory properties and is used in the treatment of skin infections and
wounds. Other applications include the therapy of various conditions such as dysentery, different urinary
disorders, cystitis and gonorrhoea. This review highlights the development of this botanical drug into a widely
used nutraceutical. Products derived from G. mangostana are now distributed increasingly all over the world.
This has given rise to a concomitant increase in research on the phytochemical constituents and biological
activity of mangosteen. Central to the biological activity of the species are xanthones which are reviewed in
detail. A comprehensive assessment of the biological activities of individual xanthones as well as extracts of
G. mangostana is included. In addition, its potential in terms of developing novel drug leads is assessed.
Products containing its fruits are now sold widely as ‘liquid botanical supplements’, but evidence for the health
benefits of these products is still lacking. As shown here, a serious weakness in our knowledge is the lack of
clinical data and it is not yet clear to what extent the findings about pharmacological activities are of potential
clinical relevance. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Keywords: mangosteen (Garcinia mangostana L.); Clusiaceae (Guttiferae); xanthones; antiinflammatory; nutraceuticals;
traditional medicine.

The fruits of G. mangostana are the most treasured

INTRODUCTION
The term ‘nutraceutical’ was coined in 1989 by Stephen
De Felice from the ‘Foundation for Innovation in
Medicine’, an educational foundation in the USA
(Rapport and Lockwood, 2002). The coining of this
term marks both the formal recognition of health
benefits of foods and the starting point of what would
become a marketing-driven approach to health foods.
It is one of many, generally overlapping, concepts which
highlight the health benefits of foods and demarcate
a borderline area between medicines and food (Etkin
and Ross, 1982, 1996). Traditional knowledge about
medicinal plants has without doubt served as an exam-
ple for developing new drugs (Corson and Crews, 2007),
but the impact such knowledge has had on developing
novel nutraceuticals has been reviewed far less system-
atically. Therefore, this review looks at an example
of a medicinal and food plant which has now become
widely available as a nutraceutical (or food supplement).
This review assesses the scientific information on one
such nutraceutical Garcinia mangostana L. (mangosteen),
a tropical evergreen fruit tree and the evidence avail-
able on its therapeutic benefits.
* Correspondence to: Michael Heinrich, Center for Pharmacognosy and
Phytotherapy, The School of Pharmacy (University of London), 29–39
Brunswick Square, London WC1N 1AX, UK.
E-mail: michael.heinrich@pharmacy.ac.uk
Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
part of this plant and are famous for the remarkably
pleasant flavour. Therefore, mangosteen was even named
as the ‘queen of tropical fruits’ (Lim, 1984; Ramage
et al., 2004). The fruit hull of G. mangostana has been
used for hundreds of years around the world, mostly
in Southeast Asia, as a medicine for a great variety of
medical conditions. Over the past decades, it was shown
that mangosteen contains high amounts of xanthones,
a class of polyphenolic compounds which were shown
to have significant biological activities in in vitro systems.
This review looks at both the traditional use of the
species and the available scientific evidence.
TRADITIONAL MEDICAL USE
Different parts of G. mangostana, mostly fruit hull, bark
and roots, have been used for hundreds of years in
Southeast Asia as a medicine for a great variety
of medical conditions. In India, Thailand, China and
other parts of Asia dried and powdered fruit hull is
used as antimicrobial agents and for the antiparasitic
treatments in dysentery (Ji et al., 2007; Nakatani et al.,
2002b; Moongkarndi et al., 2004b; Saralamp et al., 1996;
Yu et al., 2007) as well as externally for healing wounds,
suppurations and chronic ulcers (Farnsworth and
Bunyapraphatsara, 1992). Mangosteen leaves and bark
are recognized to have strong antiinflammatory properties
and therefore an ointment derived from them is used
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23, 1047–1065 2008
Revised 20DOI:
September 2008
10.1002/ptr
Accepted 5 October 2008
1048 D. OBOLSKIY ET AL.
for treating eczema, hyperkeratosis and other skin
disorders such as psoriasis (Matsumoto et al., 2003;
Sakagami et al., 2005; Sato et al., 2004). The rind
decoction is administered to relieve diarrhea, cystitis,
gonorrhoea and gleet. The decoction can additionally
be applied externally as an astringent lotion (Farnsworth
and Bunyapraphatsara, 1992; Moongkarndi et al., 2004a;
Sato et al., 2004). The astringent qualities of mangosteen
are also used for preventing dehydration and the loss
of essential nutrients from the gastrointestinal tract in
case of diarrhoea. In Thai folk medicine the fruit hulls
of G. mangostana have been in use for the treatment of
skin infections, wounds and for the relief of diarrhea
(Jung et al., 2006; Suksamrarn et al., 2002, 2003).
In the Philippines and Malaya a tea made from the
rind and decoction of the leaves and bark is used as
a febrifuge as well as in the treatment of diarrhoea,
dysentery and different urinary disorders. A root
decoction is administered by women with menstrual
disorders. Moreover, a bark extract called ‘amibiasine’
has been used for the treatment of amoebic dysentery
(Moongkarndi et al., 2004b; Nakatani et al., 2002a).
G. mangostana has also found medical use in Carib-
bean and Latin America. A tea made from mangosteen
fruits is used widely as a tonic for fatigue and low
energy states. Brazilians use similar tea as a digestive
aid. In Venezuela parasitic skin infections are treated
with poultices of the fruit rind (Chairungsrilerd et al.,
1996a; Gopalakrishnan et al., 1997).
BOTANICAL DESCRIPTION
The genus Garcinia (Clusiaceae) includes 50–300 species
of evergreen trees and shrubs native to Asia, Australia,
tropical and southern Africa and Polynesia. Many of
the species bear edible fruits, including G. mangostana.
Mangosteen is believed to be native to Malaysia and
has been introduced, for example, in Northern Australia,
Brazil, Central America, Hawaii, Southern India, Indo-
nesia, Thailand and other tropical countries (Ji et al., 2007).
G. mangostana is an erect slow-growing tree that
has a pyramidal crown. It attains 6–25 m in height and
has dark-brown or nearly black bark. The inner bark
contains yellow, gummy, bitter latex.
Leaves are opposite, short-stalked. Shape is ovate-
oblong or elliptic. The leaves have a cuneate base, acute
apex, entire margin; contain numerous veins that are
joined together by a vein running parallel to a midrib.
The leaves are thick, dark green and glossy above and
yellowish-green beneath, 9–25 cm long and 4.5–11 cm
wide. The petiole is 1.2–2.5 cm long.
The flowers are 4–5 cm in wide and may be male or
hermaphrodite on the same tree. They form clusters
of 3–9 at the branch tips. There are four sepals and
four ovate, thick, fleshy petals. The petals’ colour is
green with red spots on the outside, yellowish-green
inside. The flowers carry a lot of stamens although they
bear no pollen as they have no anthers. Hermaphrodite
flowers are situated singly or in pairs at the tips of young
branchlets. Their petals are usually yellowish-green
edged with red or mostly red and are quickly shed.
The fruit is capped by the prominent calyx at the
stem end and with 4–8 triangular remnants of the stigma
in a shape of a rosette at the apex. The fruit is round,
Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
smooth externally, 3.4–7.5 cm in diameter. The colour
is usually from dark-purple to red-purple. The rind
is 6–10 mm thick, red in cross-section, purplish-white
on the inside. The rind contains bitter yellow latex and
a purple, staining juice. The fruit may be seedless or
have 1–5 fully developed seeds with ovoid-oblong shape.
The seeds are usually flattened, 2.5 cm long and 1.6 cm
wide. The arils of the seeds are represented as 4–8
triangular segments of white, juicy and soft flesh. The
flesh is slightly or distinctly acid in flavour and is claimed
as very luscious and delicious (Corner, 1988; Farnsworth
and Bunyapraphatsara, 1992; Ramage et al., 2004;
Wieble and Downton, 1992).
CHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS
The major bioactive secondary metabolites of G.
mangostana are xanthone derivatives (Jung et al., 2006;
Peres et al., 2000) which occur commonly in only a few
higher plant families, fungi and lichens. Pharmacologi-
cal activities of xanthones have aroused great interest
to this class of substances.
The major constituents from the xanthone fraction
of G. mangostana were found to be α-mangostin and
γ-mangostin (Jung et al., 2006; Harrison, 2002; Suksam-
rarn et al., 2002). More than 60 other xanthones were
isolated from different plant parts of G. mangostana
including β-mangostin, 1-isomangostin, 3-isomangostin,
9-hydroxycalabaxanthone, 8-deoxygartanin, demethyl-
calabaxanthone, garcinone B, garcinone D, garcinone
E, gartanin, mangostanol, mangostanin and mangostinone
(Ji et al., 2007; Walker, 2007).
The majority of investigations are focused on extrac-
tion and structure elucidation of xanthones from the
fruit hull or pericarp of the mangosteen fruit (Asai
et al., 1995; Mahabusarakam and Wiriyachitra, 1987;
Puripattanavong et al., 2006; Suksamrarn et al., 2002).
More recently, the presence of these compounds in the
heartwood, stem and seed was reported by several
authors (Ee et al., 2006; Harrison, 2002; Sakagami
et al., 2005; Suksamrarn et al., 2003). In the present pro-
file all known secondary metabolites of G. mangostana
found in the literature and their structures have been
included (Table 1).
The literature lacks clarity in defining the specific
parts of G. mangostana fruits that were used for extrac-
tion of active compounds. Some authors refer to fruit
rind and fruit hull which are basically parts of fruit
pericarp. Therefore, in Table 1 the terms pericarp or
whole fruit (with seeds) are given without specification
of pericarp part used.
STRUCTURE, METHODS OF ISOLATION
AND STRUCTURAL INVESTIGATIONS OF
XANTHONES
Xanthones is a class of polyphenolic compounds with
a skeleton of a xanthene-9-one. This is a distinctive
chemical structural component that is represented as
the tricyclic aromatic ring system. The structure of the
xanthene-9-one is symmetrical and carbons are counted
based on a biosynthetic convention. The majority of
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 GARCINIA MANGOSTANA L. REVIEW 1049

Table 1. Secondary metabolites of G. mangostana

Compound name Structure Plant part References

XANTHONES
α-Mangostin Pericarp, Asai et al. (1995);
Whole fruit, Chairungsrilerd
Stem, Arils, Seed et al. (1996b);
Chen et al. (2008);
Chin et al. (2008);
Ee et al. (2006);
Jung et al. (2006);
Mahabusarakam and
Wiriyachitra (1987);
Malathi et al. (2000);
Matsumoto et al. (2003)
Suksamrarn et al. (2002);
Puripattanavong
et al. (2006);
Sakagami et al. (2005);
Suksamrarn et al.
(2002, 2003, 2006);
Vieira and Kijjoa (2005)
β-Mangostin Pericarp, Ee et al. (2006);
Whole fruit, Stem Farnsworth and
Bunyapraphatsara (1992);
Mahabusarakam and
Wiriyachitra (1987);
Matsumoto et al. (2003);
Sakagami et al. (2005);
Suksamrarn et al.
(2002, 2006);
Vieira and Kijjoa (2005)
γ-Mangostin Pericarp, Asai et al. (1995);
Whole fruit Chairungsrilerd et al.
(1996b);
Gopalakrishnan
et al. (1997);
Jung et al. (2006);
Mahabusarakam and
Wiriyachitra (1987);
Matsumoto et al. (2003);
Suskamrarn et al.
(2003, 2006);
Peres et al. (2000)
(16E)-1,6-Dihydroxy-8-(3- Heartwood Harrison (2002);
hydroxy-3-methylbut-1- Vieira and Kijjoa (2005)
enyl)-3,7-dimethoxy-2-(3-
methylbut-2-enyl)-
xanthone

(16E)-1-Hydroxy-8-(3- Heartwood Harrison (2002);

hydroxy-3-methylbut-1- Vieira and Kijjoa (2005)
enyl)-3,6,7-trimethoxy-2-
(3-methylbut-2-enyl)-
xanthone

1,2-Dihydro-1,8,10- Whole fruit Chin et al. (2008)

trihydroxy-2-(2-
hydroxypropan-2-yl)-9-(3-
methylbut-2-enyl)furo[3,2-
a]xanthen-11-one

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1050 D. OBOLSKIY ET AL.

Table 1. (Continued)

Compound name Structure Plant part References

1,3,6,7-Tetrahydroxy Heart wood Farnsworth and

xanthone Bunyapraphatsara (1992)

1,3,6,7-Tetrahydroxy-2,8- Pericarp Yu et al. (2007)

(3-methyl-2-butenyl)
xanthone P1

1,3,6-Trihydroxy-7- Pericarp Yu et al. (2007)

methoxy-2,8-(3-methyl-2-
butenyl) xanthone P2

1,3,8-Trihydroxy-4- OH O OH Not stated Vieira and Kijjoa (2005)

methyl-2,7-diisoprenylxanthone

O OH

1,3,7-Trihydroxy-2,8-di-(3- Whole fruit Chin et al. (2008)

methylbut-2-enyl)-xanthone

1,3-Dihydroxy-2-(2- Heartwood Harrison (2002);

hydroxy-3-methylbut-3- Vieira and Kijjoa (2005)
enyl)-6,7-dimethoxy-8-(3-
methylbut-2-enyl)-xanthone

1,5-Dihydroxy-2-(3- Pericarp Asai et al. (1995)

methylbut-2-enyl)-3-
methoxy-xanthone

1,5-dihydroxy-2-isopentyl- Pericarp Farnsworth and

3-methoxy xanthone Bunyapraphatsara (1992)

1,5,8-Trihydroxy-3- Leaves Farnsworth and

methoxy-2-(3-methylbut-2- Bunyapraphatsara (1992);
enyl) xanthone Peres et al. (2000)

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 GARCINIA MANGOSTANA L. REVIEW 1051

Table 1. (Continued)

Compound name Structure Plant part References

1,6-Dihydroxy-2-(2- Heartwood Harrison (2002);

hydroxy-3-methylbut-3- Vieira and Kijjoa (2005)
enyl)-3,7-dimethoxy-8-(3-
methylbut-2-enyl)-xanthone

1,6-Dihydroxy-3-methoxy- Leaves Farnsworth and

2-(3-methyl-2-buthenyl)- Bunyapraphatsara (1992)
xanthone

1,6-Dihydroxy-3,7- Heartwood Harrison (2002);

dimethoxy-2-(3-methylbut- Vieira and Kijjoa (2005)
2-enyl)-8-(2-oxo-3-
methylbut-3-enyl)-xanthone

1,6-Dihydroxy-3,7- Heartwood, Stem Ee et al. (2006);

dimethoxy-2-(3-methylbut- Harrison (2002);
2-enyl)-xanthone Vieira and Kijjoa (2005)

1,6-Dihydroxy-8-(2- Heartwood Harrison (2002);

hydroxy-3-methylbut-3- Vieira and Kijjoa (2005)
enyl)-3,7-dimethoxy-2-(3-
methylbut-2-enyl)-xanthone

1,7-Dihydroxy-2-(3- Pericarp Asai et al. (1995);

methylbut-2-enyl)-3- Matsumoto et al. (2003);
methoxy-xanthone Suksamrarn et al. (2003);
(Vieira and Kijjoa, 2005)

1,7-dihydroxy-2-isopentyl- Pericarp Farnsworth and

3-methoxy xanthone Bunyapraphatsara (1992)

11-Hydroxy-1-isomangostin Whole fruit Suksamrarn et al. (2006)

1-Hydroxy-2-(2-hydroxy- Heartwood Harrison (2002);

3-methylbut-3-enyl)-3,6,7- Vieira and Kijjoa (2005)
trimethoxy-8-(3-
methylbut-2-enyl)-
xanthone

1-Hydroxy-8-(2-hydroxy- Heartwood Harrison (2002);

3-methylbut-3-enyl)-3,6,7- Vieira and Kijjoa (2005)
trimethoxy-2-(3-
methylbut-2-enyl)-
xanthone

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1052 D. OBOLSKIY ET AL.

Table 1. (Continued)

Compound name Structure Plant part References

1-Isomangostin Pericarp Farnsworth and

Bunyapraphatsara (1992);
Jung et al. (2006);
Mahabusarakam and
Wiriyachitra (1987);
Peres et al. (2000);
Vieira and Kijjoa (2005)
1-Isomangostin hydrate Pericarp Mahabusarakam and
Wiriyachitra, (1987);
Peres et al. (2000)

2-(γ,γ -Dimethylallyl)-1,7- Pericarp, Arils Chairungsrilerd et al.

dihydroxy-3-methoxyxanthone (1996b);
Farnsworth and
Bunyapraphatsara (1992);
Mahabusarakam and
Wiriyachitra (1987)

2,3,6,8-Tetrahydroxy-1- Not stated Vieira and Kijjoa (2005)

isoprenylxanthone

2,8-bis-(γ,γ-Dimethyallyl)- Arils Farnsworth and

1,3,7-trihydroxyxanthone Bunyapraphatsara (1992);
Mahabusarakam and
Wiriyachitra (1987)

3-Isomangostin Pericarp Farnsworth and

Bunyapraphatsara (1992);
Mahabusarakam and
Wiriyachitra (1987)
Vieira and Kijjoa (2005)

3-Isomangostin hydrate Pericarp Mahabusarakam and

Wiriyachitra (1987)
Farnsworth and
Bunyapraphatsara (1992)

5,9-Dihydroxy-8-methoxy- Fruit hull Chairungsrilerd et al.

2,2-dimethyl-7-(3- (1996b);
methylbut-2-enyl)-2H,6H- Ee et al. (2006)
pyrano-[3,2,6]-xanthene-6-one

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 GARCINIA MANGOSTANA L. REVIEW 1053

Table 1. (Continued)

Compound name Structure Plant part References

6-Deoxy-7- Whole fruit Chin et al. (2008)

demethylmangostanin

6-O-Methylmangostanin Not stated Vieira and Kijjoa (2005)

8-Deoxygartanin Pericarp, Chairungsrilerd

Whole fruit et al. (1996b);
Gopalakrishnan
et al. (1997);
Farnsworth and
Bunyapraphatsara (1992);
Suksamrarn et al. (2006);
Vieira and Kijjoa (2005)
8-Hydroxycudraxanthone Pericarp Jung et al. (2006)

BR-Xanthone Pericarp Gopalakrishnan

et al. (1997);
Peres et al. (2000)

Calabaxanthone Arils Farnsworth and

Bunyapraphatsara (1992);
Mahabusarakam and
Wiriyachitra (1987)

Cudraxanthone G O OH Pericarp Jung et al. (2006)

O OCH3

OH

Demethylcalabaxanthone Whole fruit, Mahabusarakam and

Arils, Seed Wiriyachitra (1987);
O OH Suksamrarn et al. (2003)
HO

O O

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1054 D. OBOLSKIY ET AL.

Table 1. (Continued)

Compound name Structure Plant part References

Garcimangosone A Fruit hull Huang et al. (2001);

Vieira and Kijjoa (2005)

Garcimangosone B Pericarp Huang et al. (2001);

Jung et al. (2006);
Vieira and Kijjoa (2005)

Garcimangosone C Pericarp Huang et al. (2001);

Vieira and Kijjoa (2005)

Garciniafuran Heartwood Harrison (2002)

Garcinone B Pericarp, Farnsworth and

Whole fruit Bunyapraphatsara (1992);
Suksamrarn et al.
(2002, 2006)

Garcinone C Whole fruit Farnsworth and

Bunyapraphatsara (1992);
Peres et al. (2000);
Suksamrarn et al. (2006)

Garcinone D Pericarp, Farnsworth and

Whole fruit, Bunyapraphatsara (1992);
Stem Jung et al. (2006);
Suksamrarn et al.
(2003, 2006);
Vieira and Kijjoa (2005)

Garcinone E Pericarp, Asai et al. (1995);

Whole fruit Chairungsrilerd et al. (1996a);
Jung, et al. (2006);
Matsumoto et al. (2003);
Peres et al. (2000);
Suksamrarn et al. (2006);
Vieira and Kijjoa (2005)

Gartanin Pericarp, Asai et al. (1995);

Whole fruit Chairungsrilerd et al. (1996a);
Gopalakrishnan et al. (1997);
Jung et al. (2006);
Mahabusarakam and
Wiriyachitra (1987);
Peres et al. (2000);
Suksamrarn et al. (2006);
Vieira and Kijjoa (2005)

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Table 1. (Continued)

Compound name Structure Plant part References

Mangosharin Stem Ee et al. (2006)

Mangostanin Pericarp Harrison (2002);

Suksamrarn et al. (2003);
Vieira and Kijjoa (2005)

Mangostanol Whole fruit, Stem, Peres et al. (2000);

Suksamrarn et al.
(2002, 2006);
Vieira and Kijjoa (2005)

Mangostenol Pericarp Suksamrarn et al. (2002);

Vieira and Kijjoa (2005)

Mangostenone A Pericarp Suksamrarn et al. (2002);

Vieira and Kijjoa (2005)

Mangostenone B Pericarp Suksamrarn et al. (2002);

Vieira and Kijjoa (2005)

Mangostenone C Whole fruit Suksamrarn et al. (2006)

Mangostenone D Whole fruit Suksamrarn et al. (2006)

Mangostenone E Whole fruit Suksamrarn et al. (2006)

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1056 D. OBOLSKIY ET AL.

Table 1. (Continued)

Compound name Structure Plant part References

Mangostinone Pericarp, Whole fruit Asai et al. (1995)

Jung et al. (2006)
Matsumoto et al. (2003)
Suksamrarn et al. (2006)
Vieira and Kijjoa (2005)

Smeathxanthone A Pericarp Jung et al. (2006)

Thwaitesixanthone Whole fruit Suksamrarn et al. (2006)

Tovophyllin A Pericarp Jung et al. (2006)

Tovophyllin B Pericarp Suksamrarn et al. (2002);

Vieira and Kijjoa (2005)

Trapezifolixanthone Pericarp Suksamrarn et al. (2002);

Vieira and Kijjoa (2005)

BENZOPHENONES
Garcimangosone D Pericarp Huang et al. (2001)

Pericarp, Heartwood Farnsworth and

Maclurin Bunyapraphatsara (1992);
Mahabusarakam and
Wiriyachitra (1987)

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 GARCINIA MANGOSTANA L. REVIEW 1057

Table 1. (Continued)

Compound name Structure Plant part References

Kolanone Pericarp Farnsworth and

Bunyapraphatsara (1992)

FLAVONOIDS
Epicatehin Pericarp Chairungsrilerd
et al. (1996b);
Suksamrarn et al. (2002);
Yu et al. (2007)

ANTHOCYANINS
Chrysanthemin Pericarp Farnsworth and
Bunyapraphatsara (1992)

Cyanidin-3-O-sophoroside Pericarp Farnsworth and

Bunyapraphatsara (1992)

Cyanidin-3-O-glucoside Not stated Farnsworth and

Bunyapraphatsara (1992)

xanthones present in mangosteen have a ring system

that is substituted with a variety of isoprene, phenolic
and methoxy groups that give a large variety of possi-
ble structures. Natural xanthones can be subdivided,
based on the nature of substituents, into simple oxy-
genated xanthones, glycosylated xanthones, prenylated
xanthones and their derivatives, xanthone dimers, xantho-
nolignoids and miscellaneous (Pinto et al., 2005).
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1058 D. OBOLSKIY ET AL.
The separation of xanthones is commonly carried out
by silica gel chromatography using different solvent
mixtures. They are also separated and identified by
comparison with standards by thin layer chromato-
graphy (TLC) and high performance liquid chromato-
graphy (HPLC). The structures of all known xanthones
were established mainly by 1H and/or 13C nuclear
magnetic resonance (NMR), ultraviolet-visible spectro-
scopy (UV), infrared spectroscopy (IR) and mass
spectroscopy (MS) (Ji et al., 2007; Peres et al., 2000;
Walker, 2007).
The UV spectrum of xanthones depends on its
oxygenation and varies in a characteristic manner. By
using sodium acetate, sodium hydroxide and boric acid
shifts, considerable information on the position of
hydroxyl groups can be obtained. IR spectroscopy can
also be useful in the structure elucidation of xanthones.
The effects of chelation on the IR frequency of the
carbonyl group in hydroxyl-xanthones can be a very
helpful feature. MS data are also very important for
preliminary examination of the structure (Peres et al.,
2000).
1
H and 13C NMR spectroscopy is probably the most
useful method in the structure elucidation of naturally
occurring xanthones. The NMR data of a large number
of xanthones present in G. mangostana has been re-
ported. Analysis of spin–spin coupling and chemical
shifts allows the determination of the structures of
substituents and the number of aromatic protons in
unknown structures. Additionally, several 2D NMR
techniques such as COSY, NOESY, HSQC and HMBC
have been used widely to elucidate the structures of
more complex xanthones (Harrison, 2002; Huang et al.,
2001; Jung et al., 2006; Suksamrarn et al., 2002; Vieira
and Kijjoa, 2005).
Recently, x-ray crystallography has played an impor-
tant role in the determination of the three-dimensional
structure including the absolute configuration of xanthones.
The crystal structures of xanthones that have been elu-
cidated lately revealed that the three-ring system, which
determines the skeleton of this class of compounds,
is mainly planar. The central pyranoid ring in the
majority of the cases has an aromatic character. This
was evaluated by the bond lengths and angles. However,
there are some small deviations from planarity mainly
because of steric factors associated with substituents.
As it was difficult to obtain diffraction quality crystals,
x-ray crystallography derived structures of the main
xanthones of mangosteen remained unknown for a long
time. But later on the crystal structure of α-mangostin
and 1,3,6-trihydroxy-7-methoxy-2,8-(3-methyl-2-butenyl)
xanthone were reported (Gales and Damas, 2005;
Malathi et al., 2000).
PHARMACOLOGICAL ACTIVITY OF
EXTRACTS AND PURE COMPOUNDS
DERIVED FROM G. MANGOSTANA
Extracts and pure compounds derived from G. mangostana,
mainly individual xanthones, were reported to have a
great variety of pharmacological activities including anti-
oxidant, antifungal, antibacterial, cytotoxic, antiinflam-
mation, antihistamine, anti-HIV and other activities
(Table 2).
Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Antioxidant activity
Chin et al. (2008) demonstrated the antioxidant activities
of selected xanthones. 1,2-Dihydro-1,8,10-trihydroxy-2-
(2-hydroxypropan-2-yl)-9-(3-methylbut-2-enyl)furo[3,2-
a] xanthen-11-one, 6-deoxy-7-demethylmangostanin,
1,3,7-trihydroxy-2,8-di-(3-methylbut-2-enyl)-xanthone
and mangostanin induced quinone reductase in the
Hepa 1c1c7 cell line in an in vitro screening assay (IC50,
0.68–2.2 μg/mL) whereas γ-mangostin exhibited hydroxyl
radical-scavenging activity (IC50, 0.20 μg/mL). Antioxidant
activities were also shown for 8-hydroxycudraxanthone,
gartanin, α-mangostin, γ-mangostin and smeathxanthone
A using authentic and morpholinosydnonimine-derived
peroxynitrite methods (Jung et al., 2006). An extract
of G. mangostana was reported to have very good
antioxidant action in the 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl
radical (DPPH) assay (Chomnawang et al., 2007). The
extract inhibited 50% of free radicals at a concen-
tration of 6.13 μg/mL. In addition, this extract showed
high inhibition on TNF-α production generated from
peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) stimulated
with Propionibacterum acnes. Therefore this plant was
claimed to have a remarkable antiinflammatory effect
and to reduce cell damage. Another work showing high
antioxidant properties of a xanthone was published
by Williams et al. (1995). In this paper α-mangostin was
claimed to prevent oxidation of low density lipoprotein
(LDL), thus being a potent substance for preventing
the development of atherosclerosis.
Antifungal and antibacterial activities
Selected xanthones as well as extracts of G. mangostana
have relatively strong antifungal and antibacterial
activities. The antifungal activity of naturally occurring
xanthones from mangosteen fruit against three phyto-
pathogenic fungi, Fusarium oxysporum vasinfectum,
Alternaria tenius and Dreschlera oryzae, was tested and
a correlation between their structures and biological
effects was established (Gopalakrishnan et al., 1997).
It was suggested that phenolic hydroxyls in rings A and
B as well as isoprenyl groups play important roles
in the antifungal mechanism of action of xanthones as
the difference in the presence and position of these
functional groups influenced the inhibition. Among the
compounds tested γ-mangostin was the most active
against all the test fungi.
Sakagami et al. (2005) investigated the antibacterial
activity of α-mangostin against vancomycin resistant
Enterococci (VRE) and methicillin resistant Staphyloc-
occus aureus (MRSA). α-Mangostin was found to be
active against five strains of VRE and nine strains of
MRSA with minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC)
values of 6.25 μg/mL and from 6.25 μg/mL to 12.5 μg/
mL, respectively. Additionally, synergism between
α-mangostin and commercially available antibiotics was
investigated. It was suggested that α-mangostin alone
or in combination with gentamicin against VRE, and in
combination with vancomycin hydrochloride against
MRSA, might be useful in controlling VRE and MRSA
infections, and should be investigated further in in vivo
models.
Prenylated xanthones isolated from the fruit hull,
arils and seeds of G. mangostana were tested for their
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 GARCINIA MANGOSTANA L. REVIEW 1059

Table 2. Biological and pharmacological activities (in vitro and in vivo) of G. mangostana extracts and pure constituents

Extract/Compound Pharmacological activity Reference

IN VITRO MODELS
ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITY
Chloroform extract of pericarp Antioxidant effect in DPPH assay Puripattanavong et al. (2006)
P1 (1,3,6,7-tetrahydroxy-2,8- DPPH radical scavenging activity Yu et al. (2007)
(3-methyl-2-butenyl) xanthone) Hydroxyl radical scavenging activity
P2 (1,3,6-trihydroxy-7- Superoxide anion radical scavenging activity
methoxy-2,8-(3-methyl-2- Inhibition of linoleic acid oxidation
butenyl) xanthone)
Epicatechin
γ-Mangostin Hydroxyl radical scavenging activity Chin et al. (2008)
8-Hydroxycubraxanthone Antioxidant activities using authentic and Jung et al. (2006)
Gartanin morphosydnonimine-derived roxynitrite methods
α-Mangostin
γ-Mangostin
Smeathxanthone
Ethanol extract of pericarp Antioxidant activity (DPPH scavenging and NBT Chomnawang et al. (2007)
reduction assay)
Radical scavenging and cytokine reducing activity
α-Mangostin α-Mangostin is acting as a free radical scavenger Williams et al. (1995)
to protect the LDL from oxidative damage
α-Mangostin and its derivatives Inhibition of LDL oxidation Mahabusarakam et al. (2000)

ANTIFUNGAL ACTIVITY
Ethanol extract of pericarp
Acetone extract of pericarp
Methanol extract of pericarp
α-Mangostin
γ-Mangostin
Antifungal activity against three species of Puripattanavong et al. (2006)
tinea – Trichophyton rudrum, Trichophyton
mentagrophyte, Microsporum gypseum
Antifungal activity against Fusarium Gopalakrishnan et al. (1997)
oxysporum vasinfectum, Altenaria tenius,
Dreschlera oryzae

ANTIBACTERIAL ACTIVITY
γ-Mangostin Strong inhibitory effect on Mycobacterium Suksamrarn et al. (2003)
Garcinone D tuberculosis
Mangostanin
α-Mangostin
Demethylcalabaxanthone
α-Mangostin Inhibitory effect on normal and penicillin Farnsworth and
β-Mangostin resistant Staphylococcus aureus Bunyapraphatsara (1992)
γ-Mangostin
Gartanin
8-Deoxygartanin
Pericarp decoction Inhibition of the growth of Shigella dysenteriae, Sintersmuk and
Shigella flexneri, Shigella sonnei, Shigella Deekijsermpong (1989)
boydii, Escherichia coli, Vibrio cholerae, Vibrio
parahaemolyticus, Salmonella agona, Salmonella
typhi, Salmonella typhimurium, Salmonella
stanley, Salmonella virchow and Salmonella
welterverdin, Vibrio cholerae, Vibrio
parahaemolyticus, Shigella dysenteriae,
Shigella typhi and Shigella boydii
Water extract of pericarp Inhibition of Streptococcus faecalis, Vibrio Gritsanapan and
cholerae growth Chulasiri (1983)
Petroleum extract of pericarp Inhibition of MRSA (methicillin resistant Sutabhaha et al. (1997)
Staphylococcus aureus)
α-Mangostin Antimicrobial activity against VRE (vancomycin Sakagami et al. (2005)
resistant Enterococci ) and MRSA (methicillin
resistant Staphylococcus aureus)

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DOI: 10.1002/ptr
1060 D. OBOLSKIY ET AL.

Table 2. (Continued)

Extract/Compound Pharmacological activity Reference

α-Mangostin Antimicrobial activity against methicillin Iinuma et al. (1996)

Ethanol extract of G. mangostana
Water extract of pericarps followed by
ethanol precipitation and fractionating
by anion exchange chromatography
Crude extract of G. mangostana
resistant Staphylococcus aureus
Antimicrobial activity against methicillin Voravuthikunchai
resistant Staphylococcus aureus and Kitpipit (2005)
Phagocytic intracellular killing activities against Chanarat et al. (1997)
Salmonella enteritidis
The results from the disc diffusion method Chomnawang et al. (2005)
showed that the extract could inhibit the growth
of Propionibacterium acnes Staphylococcus
epidermidis

CYTOTOXIC ACTIVITY
α-Mangostin Cytotoxic properties against breast cancer and Suksamrarn et al. (2006)
epidermoid carcinoma of the mouth cell lines
Gartanin Cytotoxic properties against small cell lung Suksamrarn et al. (2006)
cancer cell lines
α-Mangostin Significant human leukaemia HL60 cell growth Matsumoto et al. (2003)
β-Mangostin inhibition, α-mangostin, β-mangostin and
γ-Mangostin γ-mangostin were particularly effective
Mangostinone
Garcinone E
2-Isoprenyl-1,7-dihydroxy-3-
methoxy xanthone
Methanol extract of pericarp Antiproliferation, antioxidation and induction of Moongkarndi et al. (2004a)
apoptosis of SKBR3 human breast cancer cell line
α-Mangostin Induces Ca2+-ATPase-dependent apoptosis Sato et al. (2004)
via mitochondrial pathway in PC12
pheochromocytoma (cancer) cells
α-Mangostin Induces cell-cycle arrest and apoptosis in Matsumoto et al. (2005)
γ-Mangostin human colon cancer DLD-1 cells
Ethanol extract of pericarp Antiproliferative activity against SKBR3 human Moongkarndi et al. (2004b)
breast adenocarcinoma cell line using MTT assay
α-Mangostin Chemopreventive effects in short-term colon Nabandith et al. (2004)
carcinogenesis bioassay system. It can be
suggested that longer exposure might result
in suppression of tumour development
α-Mangostin Complete inhibition of the cell growth of human Matsumoto et al. (2003)
leukemia cell line HL60
α-Mangostin Targeting mitochondria pathway, resulting in Matsumoto et al. (2004)
indication of apoptosis in HL60 (human
leukemia) cells
Garcinone E Cytotoxic effect on all HCC (hepatocellular Ho et al. (2002)
carcinoma) cell lines as well as on the other
gastric and lung cancer cell lines
1,3,7-Trihydroxy-2,8-di-(3- Quinone reductase inductive activity Chin et al. (2008)
methylbut-2-enyl)-xanthone using Hepa1c1c 7 cells of murine hepatoma
1,2-Tihydro-1,8,10-trihydroxy-2-
(2-hydroxypropan-2-yl)-9-(3-
methylbut-2-enyl)furo[3,2-a]
xanthen-11-one
6-Deoxy-7-demethylmangostanin

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DOI: 10.1002/ptr
 GARCINIA MANGOSTANA L. REVIEW 1061

Table 2. (Continued)

Extract/Compound Pharmacological activity Reference

ANTIINFLAMMATORY ACTIVITY
γ-Mangostin Inhibition of spontaneous PGE(2) release Nakatani et al. (2004)
in a concentration-dependent manner
Inhibition of lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced
expression of COX-2 protein and its mRNA
γ-Mangostin Inhibition of cyclooxygenase and prostaglandin Nakatani et al. (2002b)
E2 synthesis
α-Mangostin Antiinflammatory activity by inhibition of Chen et al. (2008)
γ-Mangostin inducible NO synthase

ANTIHISTAMINE ACTIVITY
α-Mangostin Histaminergic and a serotonergic receptor Chairungsrilerd
γ-Mangostin blocking agents et al. (1996a)
Ethanol extract of pericarp Inhibition of both histamine release and Nakatani et al. (2002a)
prostaglandin E2 synthesis

ANTI-HIV ACTIVITIES
α-Mangostin Non-competitive inhibition of HIV-1 protease Chen et al. (1996)
γ-Mangostin
α-Mangostin Inhibition of the replication cycle of HIV Vlietinck et al. (1998)

OTHER PHARMACOLOGICAL ACTIVITIES

Ethylacetate extract of stem Larvicidal toxicity against mosquito larvae Ee et al. (2006)
of Aedes aegypty
γ-Mangostin γ-Mangostin acts as a novel specific 5-HT2A Chairungsrilerd
(5-Hydroxytryptamine) receptor antagonist. et al. (1998a)
5-HT2 receptor agonists act as peripheral
vasoconstrictors
γ-Mangostin Inhibition of 5-fluoro-alfa-methyltryptamine- Chairungsrilerd
induced head-twitch responses of mice by et al. (1998b)
inhibition of 5-hydroxy-tryptamine 2A receptors
Xanthones Xanthones as potential antimalarial agents. Riscoe et al. (2005)
Targeting the Plasmodium digestive vacuole

CNS DEPRESSANT ACTIVITY
α-Mangostin and derivates
IN VIVO MODELS
CNS depression (ptosis, sedation, decreased Shankaranarayan
motor activity, potentiation of pentobarbital et al. (1979)
sleeping time, ether anaesthesia) in mice and rats

CARDIOVASCULAR ACTIVITY
Mangostin-3,6-di-O-glucoside Myocardial stimulation, increasing of Shankaranarayan
blood pressure in frogs and dogs et al. (1979)

ANTIINFLAMMATORY ACTIVITY
α-Mangostin Antiinflammatory activity by both intraperitoneal Shankaranarayan
1-isomangostin and oral routes in rats as tested by carrageenin et al. (1979)
induced hind paw oedema, cotton pellet
implantation and granuloma pouch techniques
Extract of pericarp Antiinflammatory effects, in mice and albino Pongphasuk et al. (2005)
rats. Significant decrease of paw swelling
induced by carrageenan injection

ANTIULCER ACTIVITY
α-Mangostin Significant antiulcer effect in rats Shankaranarayan
et al. (1979)

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1062 D. OBOLSKIY ET AL.
inhibitory activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis
strain H37Ra. α- and β-mangostins as well as garcinone
B were shown to have strong antituberculosis potential
with MIC values of 6.25 μg/mL. A correlation of structures
with effects was also suggested. The authors claimed
that xanthones should be tri- and tetra-oxygenated
with di-C5 isoprenyl units or with a C5 isoprenyl and
modified groups and it is essential for their anti-
mycobacterial activity (Suksamrarn et al., 2003).
Cytotoxic activity
Among a large number of biological activities described
for xanthones, the in vitro growth inhibitory activity on
tumour cell lines appeared to be quite remarkable as
they exhibit their activity on a wide range of different
cell lines. Matsumoto et al. (2005) reported on the
antiproliferative activities of α-, β- and γ-mangostins.
These xanthones strongly inhibited cell growth of
human colon cancer DLD-1 cell line with a correlation
between the number of hydroxyl groups in their struc-
tures and the antiproliferative efficacy. Sato et al. (2004)
studied the induction of Ca2+-ATPase-dependent
apoptosis of PC12 rat pheochromocytoma cells through
the mitochondrial pathway by α-mangostin. The mech-
anism was described as an inhibition of Ca2+- ATPase
that causes induction of cytochromeC release resulting
in apoptosis. It was suggested that α-mangostin and its
derivates may become valuable pharmacological tools
for anticancer therapy. Another investigation demon-
strated that a crude methanol extract from the pericarp
of G. mangostana has a powerful antiproliferative
effect by inducing apoptotic cell death on the SKBR3
human breast cancer cell line (Moongkarndi et al.,
2004a). The study of Matsumoto et al. (2003) showed
that the pericarp of G. mangostana contains a variety
of xanthones with antiproliferative activity against human
leukaemia HL60 cells. Among others α-mangostin
showed complete inhibition at 10 μM through the in-
duction of apoptosis of tumour cells. There are some
other investigations published reporting the anticancer
activities of xanthones including cytotoxic properties
against breast cancer, epidermoid carcinoma, small cell
lung cancer, hepatocellular carcinoma cell lines and
others (Chin et al., 2008; Ho et al., 2002; Nabandith
et al., 2004; Suksamrarn et al., 2006). Additionally, a
correlation between the structures and cytotoxicity of
xanthones was reported. For a high anticancer activity,
the xanthones should contain tetraoxygen functional
groups with two C5 isoprenyl units in rings A and B,
cyclization of the C5 group results in a significant decrease
of activity (Suksamrarn et al., 2006).
Other biological activities
Nakatani et al. (2002a) found that a 40% ethanol
extract of fruit hull of G. mangostana inhibited IgE-
mediated histamine release from the rat basophilic
leukaemia RBL-2H3 cell line. Moreover, the extract
inhibited prostaglandin E2 release from C6 rat glioma
cell line. As histamine and prostaglandin are chemical
mediators for inflammation and/or allergy, a 40% ethanol
extract of mangosteen fruit may contain useful
components beneficial for the treatment of these
Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
physiological responses. Inhibition of release of pro-
inflammatory mediators by xanthones was demonstrated
in other studies including inhibition of cyclooxygenase,
prostaglandin E2 and nitric oxide synthesis (Chen
et al., 2008; Nakatani et al., 2002b, 2004).
Malaria is nowadays still one of the most significant
parasitic diseases in the tropics and sub-tropics with
at least 500 million clinical episodes, in particular
among young children and pregnant women. There-
fore, the report by Riscoe et al. (2005) on xanthones
as antimalarial drugs and describing the mechanism
of their action by targeting the digestive vacuole, the
parasite’s most vulnerable feature could be of future
interest.
One of the most sensational pharmacological effects
of G. mangostana constituents that was reported by several
authors is the antiviral activity. α- and γ-mangostins
were claimed to be non-competitive inhibitors of HIV-
1 protease thus inhibiting the replication cycle of HIV
(Chen et al., 1996; Vlietinck et al., 1998), but it seems
that this line of research and development has not been
followed further.
In spite of the fact that a considerable number of
studies reported on many useful pharmacological
activities of constituents of G. mangostana, there are
no data from clinical trials to verify these effects
in humans. The health benefits of mangosteen for
people need to be proven scientifically. Recently a
clinical trial on a multi-herbal extract containing ‘G.
cambogia’, (nom. illeg., www.tropicos.org) provided
some preliminary evidence about its potential as a slim-
ming agent (Toromanyan et al., 2007) and there clearly
is a need to initiate clinical research with well defined
extracts of G. mangostana.
TOXICITY OF G. MANGOSTANA
Pongphasuk et al. (2005) carried out toxicity studies
on G. mangostana by applying plant extracts to mice
orally. It was found that in order to achieve a lethal
dose 50% (LD50), it is necessary to employ the extract
at 9.37 g/kg mice weight. Nevertheless, the study re-
ported that at a concentration of 20 g/kg the extract
did not result in mortality in mice at all. However, con-
cerning chronic toxicity of the extract in mice, the study
found that at the concentrations of 2, 4 and 8 g/kg/day
it induced mortality at a rate of 15%, 17% and 43%,
respectively. Overall, the data from this study seem to
be inconclusive.
After injecting mangostin derived from mangosteen
pericarp extract into mice (200 mg/kg), after an inter-
val of 12 h there was a decrease in the enzymes glutamic
oxaloacetic transaminase (SGOT) and glutamic pyruvic
transaminase (SGPT) (Sornprasit, 1987).
A study on potential mutagenic effects of G.
mangostana extract in methanol 50% found that the
extract did not show mutagenicity effects in Salmonella
typhimurium TA98 and TA100. In contrast, the research
reported that they found antimutagenicity activity of
mangosteen (50% methanol extract) in Salmonella
typhimurium TA98 and TA100 (Sripanichkulchai, 1995).
However, the hot-water extract of mangosteen had
no antimutagenicity in TA98 at all (Chanprechakul,
2000).
Phytother. Res. 23, 1047–1065 (2009)
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 GARCINIA MANGOSTANA L. REVIEW
MANGOSTEEN AS A HEALTH FOOD
SUPPLEMENT
In 2004 after the general significant decrease of food
supplements in the US market, the rise in sales growth
of botanicals saw the emergence of a new generation
of health products – ‘superfruits’. A number of network
marketing companies established a huge global niche
market for liquid botanical supplements. These products
are now being sold within the retail channels in more
traditional beverage forms.
The term ‘liquid botanical supplements’ was coined
for convenience products, mostly juice combinations
of exotic fruits, linked to supposed health benefits from
their traditional usage of the original plant. The term
‘liquid botanical supplements’ for this new category of
juices expresses alleged health claims of such products.
Partly, this approach was an outcome of the previous
trend in the US supplement market over the past
decades related to antioxidant supplements such as
green and black tea, grape seed as well as other
polyphenol-rich juices, fruits and extracts or concen-
trates derived from such plants. After the great success
of exploiting traditional Western fruits such as elder,
blue and black currant berries more and more exotic
and foreign fruits were entering the herbal and botani-
cal supplements market, especially in 2004 and 2005
when liquid supplements such as noni, mangosteen and
goji juice’s sales were rising strongly.
Among the entire segment of US top selling supple-
ments, in 2006 mangosteen juice ranked 22nd and
in 2006 has overtaken the sales figures of green tea
(NBJ’s Supplement Business Report, 2007). The growth
for mangosteen juice was 200% in 2004, 73.5% in 2005
and 18% in 2006 resulting in a total sales volume of
147 million USD.
Mostly the direct sales and multi-level marketing
companies were extremely active to disseminate the
‘health messages’ around the ‘novel superfruits’, which
was the main reason for the enormous turnover of this
market category. Due to the given structure of such a
network, the marketing companies were able to achieve
premium pricing for their products.
Mangosteen juice was introduced in 2003 to a global
market by one of the food supplement manufacturers
which has consequently maintained a generous 80%
market share of a mangosteen juice category in which
a lot of companies are now active. In 2006, the
company began exporting their product to Europe and
Asia. Therefore, together with the established markets
in the USA, Japan, Canada, Mexico and Australia,
mangosteen juice is available in 16 international
markets.
Unfortunately, the marketing hype about mangosteen
reached levels of dishonest advertisement and mis-
leading claims about the products. An internet search
resulted in numerous hits (3.5 million for ‘mangosteen’),
which contain extensive lists of the benefits related
to the use of mangosteen preparations or juice. The
common approach of companies behind those claims
for stating the benefits of the products, is a search
in public health-related databases with queries such as
‘Xanthones’ or ‘Garcinia mangostana’ and linking them.
For instance, one webpage (http://www.health-report.co.uk/
mangosteen.html, accessed May 8, 2008) listed the
Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
1063
‘proven benefits of xanthones – you can feel the differ-
ence’ and ‘more benefits . . . whether you feel them or not’
comprising a total of 42 health benefits, such as anti-
Alzheimer, anti-Parkinson, anticancer, antiosteoporosis
and many more.
It should be noted that any manufacturer of
mangosteen extracts which makes such claims, labels
and promotes its product for use in the treatment and
prevention of different clinical conditions (such as
improvement of digestive system, immunomodulator
activity, curing of cartilage and joint diseases, neutrali-
zation of toxins) will run the risk that the products
intended for such uses are considered as drugs accord-
ing to current regulations. Approval of new drugs is
based on scientific data which demonstrates their safety
and efficiency. Consequentially, manufacturers need
to provide scientific data to support the health claims
(http://www.fda.gov/foi/warning_letters/archive/g6031d.htm,
September 20, 2006).
Nevertheless, manufacturers are starting to report
ongoing research and positive results in establishing
the role of xanthones in supporting the immune
system, joint flexibility and intestinal health (http://
www.xango.co.jp/pressrelease/archive/060324_en.html,
March 3, 2006). Several of the more recent studies
in the above section were in fact based on the valida-
tion of such claims. Moreover, work on developing
guidelines for daily recommended doses of xanthones
intake is ongoing.
Accordingly, investment in scientific research using
the extracts which are marketed is now a priority in
this field. Initially, manufacturers should focus on safety
studies of such products. As a second step, companies
should start a basic research phase on in vitro activity
and, subsequently, initiate clinical trials. However, as
pointed out above so far no clinical data is available.
CONCLUSIONS
This review highlights that while there is relatively
detailed phytochemical and some pharmacological
information on the use of this plant as a food supple-
ment, there are no clinical data available that would
provide evidence of efficacy of mangosteen xanthones
or extracts in humans. Extracts and constituents of
G. mangostana may have considerable clinical poten-
tial in humans and need to be studied further in in vivo
models and ultimately in clinical studies. However,
making unsubstantiated therapeutic claims will result
in consumer expectations which cannot be met. There-
fore, based on our current knowledge products derived
from mangosteen may best be considered as (certainly
healthy) food supplements. As outlined under tradi-
tional uses, there are numerous therapeutic claims which
are based on a long tradition of use and these do not
necessarily correspond to ‘modern’ claims. At this stage
it is too early to assess what will be the greatest bene-
fits of this fruit and any other products derived from G.
mangostana, but developing evidence-based nutra-
ceuticals has been discussed in detail and a strategy for
globalizing local knowledge systems has been suggested
which would increase the benefits obtained to a wider
population (Heinrich et al., 2006; Heinrich and Prieto,
2008).
Phytother. Res. 23, 1047–1065 (2009)
DOI: 10.1002/ptr
1064 D. OBOLSKIY ET AL.
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