Mangosteen peel is edible, but eating it directly does not taste good and many people cannot accept it. It is not recommended to eat it directly. Mangosteen bark can be boiled directly with water, and the boiled liquid can be drunk after adding honey for a better taste.

Mangosteen, commonly known as mangosteen, or mountain bamboo, mangosteen, or mangosteen. Small tree, 12-20 meters high, with numerous and dense branches, alternately opposite, and small branches with obvious longitudinal edges. The leaves are thick leathery, glossy, elliptical or elliptical-oblong, with a short acuminate tip and a wide wedge-shaped or nearly round base. The male flowers are in clusters of 2-9 at the top of the branches, with short pedicels; the female flowers are solitary or in pairs, borne at the top of the branches, slightly larger than the male flowers; the ovary has 5-8 cells, few styles, and the stigma is 5-6 deeply divided. The fruit is purple-red when mature, with yellowish-brown patches in between, smooth, with 4-5 seeds, and the aril is scoop-shaped, juicy, and white. The flowering period is from September to October and the fruiting period is from November to December.

It is native to Maluku and is widely cultivated in tropical areas of Asia and Africa; it has also been introduced or tested in Taiwan, Fujian, Guangdong and Yunnan, China. It is a famous tropical fruit that can be eaten raw or preserved. The red pigment in the exocarp can be used to make dyes.