The company has standardized an extract of the fruit, Garcinia mangostana, to mangostin, one of a family of active compounds found in the fruit known as xanthones.
Three grades are available: water soluble 1% mangostin, water soluble 10% mangostin and a cosmetic grade standardized to contain 40% mangostin.
Called XanoMax, tests on the 10 per cent grade revealed an ORAC value of 2,574, according to Renaissance. The company also cites laboratory tests showing that the constituent xanthone gammamangostin is a more potent antioxidant than vitamin E.
Meanwhile the related parent compound, mangostin, inhibits the oxidation of LDL-cholesterol and the activity of PGE2, COX-1, and COX-2 (prostaglandin E2 and cyclooxygenases-1 and -2), key factors involved in inflammatory conditions, claims the US company.
Renaissance runs a 50,000 square foot factory and R&D center in Bangalore, India, and also has offices in Bangkok, Thailand, where the mangosteen is widely grown.
The dried fruit is used in much of Asia for medicinal use to overcome dysentery, or as an ointment, applied on eczema and other skin disorders. The rind decoction is taken to relieve diarrhea and cystitis.