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Illustrative ripe and opened mangosteen with ruby-purple pericarp in warm botanical light

Natural Home Cures · Mangosteen science

Carotenoids
& Mangosteen

Plant pigments.
A colorful part of a bigger story.

Plant pigments · Food color
Explore the science ↓
Editorial illustration: The colors of carotenoids.
A familiar food connectionThe colors of carotenoids.Carrots are one familiar example of carotenoid-containing foods.

Carotenoids are the pigments behind many familiar food colors. Some can become vitamin A in the body; others have different roles. Mangosteen helps illustrate why a fruit’s color alone cannot tell us which pigments it contains.

ColorYellow. Orange. Red.

01 · Begin with the essentials

What Are Carotenoids?

Carotenoids are a family of plant pigments associated with yellow, orange and red colors. They are among the compounds described in mangosteen research, although they do not explain its purple pericarp.(1), (2)

02 · Everyday food sources

A Colorful Pigment Family.

Carrots, leafy greens and tomatoes contain different members of this pigment family. In green vegetables, chlorophyll can hide the yellow and orange pigments beneath it.(4)

Illustrative food photograph: Carrots and orange-fleshed sweet potato

Beta-carotene

Carrots and orange-fleshed sweet potato

Illustrative food photograph: Spinach and kale in a ceramic bowl

Lutein

Spinach and other leafy greens

Illustrative food photograph: Ripe red tomatoes

Lycopene

Red tomatoes

Some of these pigments have a nutritional role beyond color: the body can convert them into vitamin A.

03 · A nutrient connection

From Plant Pigment to Vitamin A.

Beta-caroteneA provitamin A carotenoid
Vitamin AConverted by the body
01

Normal vision

02

Immune function

03

Tissue health

Only some carotenoids can become vitamin A. Lutein and lycopene cannot.(1)

Nutrition in focus

Lutein, Zeaxanthin and Eye-Health Research

Lutein and zeaxanthin collect in the macula, the central part of the retina responsible for detailed vision. This is the area that helps you recognize faces and read small print. Their presence there gives researchers a specific reason to investigate these pigments in eye health.(1)

The AREDS studies tested specific combinations of vitamins, minerals and pigments in people at certain stages of age-related macular degeneration. The AREDS2 formula includes lutein and zeaxanthin. The benefit applies to that formula and the patients studied; finding a pigment in a fruit does not establish the same effect.(5)

Mangosteen’s deep purple color comes from a different pigment family.

Real mangosteen fruit showing the purple-red pericarp around white edible flesh
The pericarp is the fruit’s thick outer rind.

04 · Read the fruit’s color

Why the Purple?

Anthocyanins

Give ripe mangosteen its purple color.(2)

Carotenoids

A separate pigment family described in mangosteen research.

Mangosteen’s pericarp contains several groups of plant compounds. Anthocyanins explain the purple color; carotenoids and xanthones are other parts of its chemistry.(2), (3)

Our capsules use the pericarp as a whole botanical ingredient.

Natural Home Cures mangosteen capsules with fresh mangosteen fruit on sunlit limestone

05 · From fruit to product

Whole Mangosteen Pericarp, Freeze-Dried

Our Freeze-Dried Rich Pericarp Mangosteen Capsules use the fruit’s thick outer pericarp, containing a mixture of naturally occurring plant compounds. The pericarp is freeze-dried and prepared for capsules.

Pericarp→Freeze-dried→Capsules
Explore our mangosteen →The capsule’s botanical weight is not a measured amount of an individual carotenoid.
The research behind this article

Source References

5 sources Show referencesHide references
  1. 01
    Nutrition referenceNIH Office of Dietary Supplements — Vitamin A and Carotenoids.
    Full citation
    NIH Office of Dietary Supplements — Vitamin A and Carotenoids.
    View source
  2. 02
    Research referenceYan et al. (2026) — Phytochemicals and bioactive properties of mangosteen.
    Full citation
    Yan et al. (2026) — Phytochemicals and bioactive properties of mangosteen.
    View source
  3. 03
    Research referenceAlbuquerque et al. (2023) — Mangosteen pericarp composition.
    Full citation
    Albuquerque et al. (2023) — Mangosteen pericarp composition.
    View source
  4. 04
    Research referenceOregon State University, Linus Pauling Institute — Carotenoids.
    Full citation
    Oregon State University, Linus Pauling Institute — Carotenoids.
    View source
  5. 05
    Nutrition researchNational Eye Institute: AREDS/AREDS2 Clinical Trials
    View source ↗