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Manggis Season has Arrived

• 25 April 2016
• Insight
• Badung

Denpasar, Baliterkini.com - Much-prized Fruit of the Manggis or Mangosteen now in Season and Available in Bali at Bargain Prices

The Purple Mangosteen is often referred to as the “queen of fruits” – a name linked to an unsubstantiated tale that England’s Queen Victoria once offered 100 pounds sterling to any traveler who could deliver the fresh fruit to her table.

It is unlikely that Victoria, who never ventured beyond the British Isles, ever tasted the succulent white, juicy almond-shaped fruit prized for its texture and sweet and sour flavor. Native to the Sunda Islands and the Moluccas of the Indonesia, it is only in recent years that the plant has been propagated with limited success in the western hemisphere.

The Purple Mangosteen, known in Bali as the Manggis, is now enjoying its short but bountiful harvest season meaning the fruit that can cost as must as Rp. 15,000 per kilograms can now be found for a little as Rp. 5,000 per kilogram.

Abroad, when they can be found, a kilogram of Mangosteen can cost Rp. 600,000 a kilogram or more.

Because of the current glut of Manggis and the resulting low market prices, farmers in the Gunung Sekar, Mendoyo and Banjar Pancaseming areas of Bali are complaining about the seasonal drop in Manggis prices, saying that the large supply of manggis has seen prices go as low as Rp. 3,000 per kilogram - a very low price indeed  in an area where the delicious fruit is a main cash crop for local farmers. [BT / balidiscovery.com]