Review
Medicinal properties of mangosteen (Garcinia mangostana)

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Abstract

Many tropical plants have interesting biological activities with potential therapeutic applications. Garcinia mangostana Linn. (GML) belongs to the family of Guttiferae and is named “the queen of fruits”. It is cultivated in the tropical rainforest of some Southeast Asian nations like Indonesia, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Philippines, and Thailand. People in these countries have used the pericarp (peel, rind, hull or ripe) of GML as a traditional medicine for the treatment of abdominal pain, diarrhea, dysentery, infected wound, suppuration, and chronic ulcer.

Experimental studies have demonstrated that extracts of GML have antioxidant, antitumoral, antiallergic, anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, and antiviral activities. The pericarp of GML is a source of xanthones and other bioactive substances. Prenylated xanthones isolated from GML have been extensively studied; some members of these compounds possess antioxidant, antitumoral, antiallergic, anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, antifungal and antiviral properties. Xanthones have been isolated from pericarp, whole fruit, heartwood, and leaves. The most studied xanthones are α-, β-, and γ-mangostins, garcinone E, 8-deoxygartanin, and gartanin. The aim of this review is to summarize findings of beneficial properties of GML’s extracts and xanthones isolated from this plant so far.

Introduction

Mangosteen (Garcinia mangostana Linn.) (GML) is a tropical tree from India, Myanmar, Malaysia, Philippines, Sri Lanka, and Thailand. This tree can reach 6–25 m and it has leathery, glabrous leaves and is slow to grow (Morton, 1987).

The mangosteen-fruit is dark purple or reddish, with white, soft and juicy edible pulp with a slightly acid and sweet flavor and a pleasant aroma (Jung et al., 2006). Mangosteen is known as “the queen of fruits” because it is one of the best tasting tropical fruits. The pericarp of mangosteen-fruit has been used as a medicinal agent by Southeast Asians for centuries in the treatment of skin infections and wounds (Mahabusarakam et al., 1987, Pierce, 2003), amoebic dysentery (Garnett and Sturton, 1932, Chopra et al., 1956), etc. (see Table 1). In Ayurvedic medicine the pericarp of mangosteen-fruit has wide use against inflammation and diarrhea (Balasubramanian and Rajagopalan, 1988), and cholera and dysentery (Sen et al., 1980b).

GML has been shown to contain a variety of secondary metabolites such as prenylated and oxygenated xanthones (Govindachari and Muthukumaraswamy, 1971, Sultanbawa, 1980, Peres et al., 2000).

Xanthones or xanthen-9H-ones are secondary metabolites found in some higher plant families, fungi and lichens (Peres et al., 2000, Vieira and Kijjoa, 2005), and they comprise an important class of oxygenated heterocycles. The xanthone nucleus is known as 9-xanthenone or dibenzo-γ-pyrone and it is symmetric (Fig. 1) (Vieira and Kijjoa, 2005, Pinto et al., 2005, Souza and Pinto, 2005, Gales and Damas, 2005). Xanthones have been classified in five groups: (a) simple oxygenated xanthones, (b) xanthone glycosides, (c) prenylated xanthones, (d) xanthonolignoids and (e) miscellaneous xanthones (Sultanbawa, 1980, Jiang et al., 2004).

From 20 higher plant families (122 species in 44 genus), 19 fungi species and 3 lichens species, 278 new xanthones were identified between 2000 and 2004 (Vieira and Kijjoa, 2005). Currently, approximately 1000 different xanthones have been described (Souza and Pinto, 2005). The biological activities of this class of compounds are associated with their tricyclic scaffold but vary depending on the nature and/or position of the different substituents (Souza and Pinto, 2005, Jiang et al., 2004, Bennett and Lee, 1989, Mandal et al., 1992, Peres and Nagem, 1996).

Xanthones have been isolated from pericarp, whole fruit, bark, and leaves of GML. Several studies have shown that xanthones obtained from mangosteen-fruit have remarkable biological activities (Suksamrarn et al., 2006). α-, β- and γ-mangostins, garcinone E, 8-deoxygartanin and gartanin are the most studied xanthones. In addition, synthetic xanthones have been used in several studies. Antioxidant, antitumoral, anti-inflammatory, antiallergy, antibacterial, antifungal and antiviral are some of the reported activities of xanthones isolated from GML which are discussed in the present review.

Section snippets

Xanthones isolated from the pericarp of mangosteen-fruit

Fifty xanthones have been isolated from pericarp mangosteen-fruit (Table 2). The first of them was named mangostin (after it was named α-mangostin) when it was isolated in 1855 (Fig. 1) (Schmid, 1855). It is a yellow coloring matter that can also be obtained from bark and dried sap of GML (Dragendorff, 1930).

Later, Dragendorff, 1930, Murakami, 1932 elucidated the mangostin structure. Yates and Stout (1958) established the molecular formula, and type and position of substituents of α-mangostin.

Xanthones from whole fruit, trunk, branches, and leaves of GML

Three new xanthones were isolated from the whole mangosteen-fruit: mangostenone C, D and E (Suksamrarn et al., 2006) (Table 3). In total, 18 xanthones have been isolated from the whole mangosteen-fruit. In addition, 21 xanthones have been isolated from trunk and branches of GML (Holloway and Scheinmann, 1975, Nilar et al., 2005, Nilar and Harrison, 2002, Ee et al., 2006) (Table 4). On the other hand, 1,6-dihydroxy-3-methoxy-2-isoprenyl-xanthone, 1-hydroxy-6-acetoxy-3-methoxy-2-isoprenylxanthone

Antioxidant properties

In the Table 7 the antioxidant properties of mangosteen-fruit extracts and some xanthones that have been studied are summarized.

The antioxidant activity of extracts and xanthones isolated from GML has been shown using the following methods: 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging activity (Yoshikawa et al., 1994, Leong and Shui, 2002, Weecharangsan et al., 2006, Chomnawang et al., 2007, Haruenkit et al., 2007), the ferric thiocyanate method (Yoshikawa et al., 1994, Fan and Su,

Medicinal properties of xanthones isolated from sources other than G. Mangostana

The following medicinal properties have been described about xanthones that are isolated from sources other than GML: antimalarial (Pinto et al., 2005, Laphookhieo et al., 2006, Riscoe et al., 2005, Mahabusarakam et al., 2006, Azebaze et al., 2006, Likhitwitayawuid et al., 1998a, Likhitwitayawuid et al., 1998b); antidiabetes, antihiperlipidemic and antiatherogenic (Muruganandan et al., 2005, Pinto et al., 2005); antibacterial (Pinto et al., 2005, Azebaze et al., 2006, Dharmaratne et al., 1999),

Conclusions

Following the discovery of medicinal properties in components of G. mangostana, many studies have been conducted. These studies include both natural extracts and synthetic derivatives. In this review, the potential beneficial effect of GML in both acute and chronic disease has been discussed. This suggests possible therapeutic applications that relate to GML. Nevertheless, further studies need to be done in order to investigate the effects of GML extracts in humans.

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest.

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by Programa de Apoyo a Proyectos de Investigación e Innovación Teconológica, Direccion General de Asunto del Personal Académico (DGAPA, Grant No. IN207007) from Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM).

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