Left: Mangoes (Mangifera indica), high in micronutrients, dietary fiber,
pigments and other phytochemicals. Highest ranked superfruit.
Right: Mangosteen (Garcinia mangostana), a delicious but low-nutrient fruit,
obviously without pigmentation -- does not qualify as a 'super' fruit.
[follow the Wikipedia links]
For a review of mango as the
top-ranked nutritional superfruit,
other superfruit criteria and rankings
of 14 true superfruits , click here!
Botanically, mango comes from the genus Mangifera, plant family Anacardiaceae ("cashew" or "sumac" family). Its name derives from 15th century Portuguese seafarers who called it "manga".
Mango has several characteristics of a truly 'super' fruit
-
may have as many as
1000 cultivars -- in other words, a highly cultivated fruit
-
high in
dietary fiber, vitamin C and numerous other micronutrients -- these are
key signatures of superfruits
-
skin contains
carotenoids +
anthocyanins potentially
inhibiting inflammation mechanisms common to onset of various diseases
Mango sorbet dessert and plate serving of cut mango
Botanically, mangosteen comes from the genus Garcinia, plant family
Clusiaceae of mainly tropical trees that seep resins. Its name derives from how it was called by native Asian islanders discovered by English explorers centuries ago -- "mangostana".
Mangosteen does not meet a sufficient number of criteria to be a superfruit
-
no significant development of
cultivars -- a very difficult fruit tree to cultivate for yield
- low in nutritional value and low content of phytochemicals in the edible white fruit
- relatively low research activity worldwide (has not significantly captured research interest and funding to qualify as a 'hot' research topic by independent scientists)
- phytochemicals in its inedible purple rind are readily and inexpensively obtained from other more common plant sources
- no progress toward identifying potential health benefits (lowering disease risk) in humans
Further Reading on Mangosteen
Check out the
new Archives just for superfruit essays, click!
Twitter for Superfruits News
We're starting a new online update feature using Twitter, a free micro-blogging service where we can periodically broadcast news updates on berries and superfruits.
Twitter is simply a "short message service" (SMS), just 140 characters for quickly broadcasting a message to our educational network of subscribers for the Berry Doctor's Journal. SMS is the same technology as cell phone texting, short messages being used by over 2 billion people. It's the fastest growing network service on the internet.
And you can reply using Twitter to stimulate a conversation or follow-up question.
To give Twitter a try and receive these news capsules -- even on your cell phone! -- go to Twitter.com and sign up with your own name or handle.
Then visit twitter.com/superfruitsbook where you need to click on "Follow" to be linked into Berry Doctor "tweets" on superfruit news.
