Clean production of mangosteen powder processing for nutritional health benefits and cosmetics use

Mangosteen (Garcinia mangostana), locally call Mungkhud, is an economic fruit and an important medicinal plant of Thailand. All parts of mangosteen provide a whole range of medicinal properties with high nutritional benefits, including xanthones, a potent antioxidant with extensive biological and pharmacological activities. This makes it a potentially good candidate for commercial production. The clean production of mangosteen powder was developed by using technology serving the needs for zero waste discharge during production. The developed processing includes waste utilization process. The freeze-drying process was done on mangosteen flesh and seed by blending and freeze-drying to powder and use for nutritional health products. The wastes from freeze-drying process, which are the xanthone-packed pericarp, have been considered for commercial use. The waste utilizing process was divided into two processes, the inner pericarp processing and outer pericarp processing. The inner pericarp processing was done by scalping the inner pericarp and blending, followed by freeze-drying to get the inner pericarp powder and use for nutritional health products. The outer pericarp processing was done for xanthone extraction by cutting into small pieces, tray drying, grinding into powder and ethanol extraction for cosmetics used. The residue of outer part pericarp and other wastes can be used as biopesticide or fertilizers. The clean production of mangosteen powder was done at the Fruit Processing Pilot Plant, Industrial Park, KMUTT. The results showed that all parts of mangosteen have commercial use and nothing goes to waste. The pilot data show high productivity along with low environmental impact. The preliminary study on financial analysis indicated high feasibility for commercial production. This technology is now in the process of transfer to S. Nature by SrithaiSuperware Public Company Ltd. in Thailand.