What is the difference between mangosteen, oil bamboo, and flower bamboo?

Mangosteen is a very famous tropical fruit. It can be eaten raw, juiced, used in salads, canned, and more, making it one of the fruits loved by many people. So do you know the difference between mangosteen, oil bamboo, and flower bamboo?

1. The difference between mangosteen, oil bamboo, and flower bamboo

Mangosteen is mainly divided into oil bamboo fruit, flower bamboo fruit, and sand bamboo fruit. The main differences are as follows:

1. Oil bamboo. Under normal circumstances, a mangosteen tree will not bear fruit until it is more than 7 years old, and the fruit produced by a tree aged 7-15 years is called oil bamboo. The rind of oil bamboo is bright black with a glossy, oily sheen.

2. Flower bamboo. This generally refers to fruit produced by trees aged between 15-50 years. The rind lacks the glossy, oily sheen and appears dark red or purple-red, making it look somewhat dirty and very easy to identify.

3. Sand bamboo. Sand bamboo comes from the oldest trees, generally old mangosteen trees more than 50 years old. Sand bamboo truly lives up to its name: the outer skin is extremely rough all over and has no luster at all, looking old and dry, especially since the rind is covered all over with many small pockmarks, and the outer skin is dark purple or dark red.

Among the three types of mangosteen, flower bamboo and sand bamboo have experienced the nourishment of ample sunlight, thereby absorbing enough nutrients and water, which makes the fruit they produce better in flavor. Sand bamboo in particular rarely develops “glass flesh (flesh that is transparent and clean)” or dead bamboo (completely spoiled fruit), so its quality is even better. An even more important point is the taste of sand bamboo. Although all mangosteens have a somewhat sour taste, only sand bamboo has, in addition to the sourness, a faint hint of sweetness, with a finer, fresher, and sweeter taste.

2. How to choose mangosteen

1. Look at the color of the fruit stem: when choosing mangosteen, be sure to pay attention to the color of the leaf-like sepals below the fruit stem. The greener the sepals of the mangosteen, the fresher it is. If the color turns brown or black, it means the mangosteen has been stored for a long time and is not fresh.

2. Pinch the shell: press gently with your thumb. The shell should be elastic. If the pressed spot springs back immediately, it means it is fresh. If the shell is so hard that it cannot be pressed down, then resolutely put this mangosteen back where it came from.

3. Count the sepals at the bottom: usually the mangosteen has 4 to 8 sepals at the bottom. The number of these sepals is the same as the number of flesh segments. The more sepals there are, the more flesh segments there are; the more flesh segments there are, the smaller the seeds, and some seeds can even be eaten directly. Therefore, resolutely choose mangosteens with more sepals.

Mangosteen spoils extremely easily. If you want to keep it longer, you must ensure low temperature and little oxygen. Under normal circumstances, tropical fruits cannot be stored in the refrigerator, but mangosteen is different. Because low temperature can reduce the loss of moisture in mangosteen, lower the activity of pectinase, and delay aging, mangosteen should be kept refrigerated in the refrigerator.