Mangosteen Extract (Xanthones)

Mangosteen extract is made from the pericarp of Garcinia mangostana L., family Clusiaceae (Guttiferae) — the thick, deep reddish-purple inedible rind, not the white edible aril and not the seed. The rind is where the xanthone chemistry sits. The principal marker is alpha-mangostin, a tetraoxygenated diprenylated xanthone, C24H26O6, MW 410.46, CAS 6147-11-1, systematically 1,3,6-trihydroxy-7-methoxy-2,8-bis(3-methylbut-2-enyl)-9H-xanthen-9-one. It travels with gamma-mangostin, beta-mangostin, gartanin, 8-deoxygartanin and 9-hydroxycalabaxanthone, and published work has reported alpha-mangostin at around 30% w/w of a crude ethanolic pericarp extract, which is why 10% to 40% total-xanthone grades are reachable by conventional ethanol extraction and purification rather than by spiking. Thovek standardises on total xanthones by UV at 10%, 20% and 40%, and on alpha-mangostin by reverse-phase C18 HPLC with UV detection at 254 nm where the buyer specifies the individual compound. One identity control matters more than any other on this product. Mangosteen is not Garcinia cambogia, now accepted as Garcinia gummi-gutta, whose marker is hydroxycitric acid and whose application, price and specification are entirely different. A purchase order or specification that reads only 'Garcinia extract' has to be resolved to the species before manufacture, and Thovek will not ship against an unresolved one. Every lot is authenticated by HPTLC and by an HPLC xanthone fingerprint against genuine G. mangostana pericarp, which also catches the two common economic substitutions on this material: cheap tannin-rich rind or hull extracts sold on a UV total-phenolic number, and extract cut with mangosteen juice or puree solids that carry little xanthone. The pericarp is naturally tannin-rich and strongly astringent, so taste masking, coating or encapsulation is normally needed above modest inclusion levels in drinks and chewables. The extract is vegan and vegetarian and of plant origin only, with no milk, egg, soy, fish, crustacean, gluten or tree nut input at any stage; where a carrier is used it is maize-derived maltodextrin and is named on the specification so the buyer's allergen matrix stays accurate. The powder is hygroscopic and its pigments are light-sensitive, so it should be held cool, dry and in the original sealed liner. Mangosteen has a long history of unsubstantiated marketing claims in the finished-goods trade and has drawn regulatory attention in several markets as a result; Thovek therefore publishes composition and food-technology data only, and any nutrition or health claim on the finished pack is the brand owner's responsibility under the rules of the destination market.