" Forty-nine Garcinia species have been recorded in Malaysia (Whitemore 1973), and 30 of these species have edible fruit, of which G. mangostana is the most important one producing round fruit with slightly flat distal ends and naturally seeded, referred commonly as "manggis". The other less common type of mangosteen, known as "Mesta", produces obovoid fruit with slightly pointed distal ends (found in Pahang and Sabah, Malaysia) have very thick mesocarp and are mostly seedless or have undeveloped seed. "
http://www.itfnet.org/contents/fruit/fruitInfo/html/trdLevel1511.htmlThe "mesta" variety is extremely close in appearance to the regular "manggis" mangosteen variety, at first glance a bit hard to differentiate.
also from the same previous article:
" Technically, the so-called "seeds" are not true seeds they are adventitious embryos, or hypocotyl tubercles, in as much as there has been no sexual fertilization. Because the seed does not arise from fertilization, genetic variation was thought to be almost non-existent. Since the seed arises from the cell wall of the female flower and is effectively a clone of the mother tree, the seedling has her genes intact and unchanged for generation after generation. Several experiments have been conducted taking advantage of the most current DNA and RNA analysis techniques and it turns out that there is significant variation globally amongst the different populations of the mangosteen. There is a large proportion that has essentially the same genetic make-up (genotype) but there are significant numbers that do not. "
So slightly different varieties of Mangosteen (G. mangostana ) are known to exist.
" Here’s more info on the Mangosteen we eat which is Garcinia mangostana – referred to as the Queen of Fruits. It is thought that mangosteens we eat originate from a natural hybridisation of two species Garcinia malaccensis and G. hombrioniana. It is quite surprising that the mangosteen reproduces from seeds which are not fertilised (a phenomenon called apomixis). This means that the mangosteens we eat are genetic clones of the first natural hybrids. But there are variations that occur in the mangosteen so it is plausible that the mangosteen arose from different hybridisations and not from one. One such cultivar is given the cultivar name ‘Mesta’ (so in full it would be Garcinia mangostana ‘Mesta’. You will find it in some mangosteen shops being sold as Japanese mangosteens. These have a “sharp pointed bottom” as described in the blog i eat i shoot i post. (Botanical term for such a shape – obovoid). This particular cultivar has very tiny seeds so it feels like it is seedless! "
https://lovemacritchie.wordpress.com/2015/10/01/10-amazing-plants-in-our-macritchie-forest/" Another gem that you can find at 818 Durians is their very special “Japanese” Mangosteens. If they are available, make sure you grab a bag. These Mangosteens are easily recognized by their sharp, pointed bottoms as compared to the usual Mangosteens which are round. The flesh is crisp, sweet and tangy and amazingly, there the seeds are so small that most of them are edible! I found that you might get one seed that you would need to spit out in every Mangosteen you split open! It’s the best Mangosteens I have ever come across! "
In regular mangosteens, often some of the fleshy white segments inside of regular rind do not contain seed. These segments tend to be much smaller, but also make for a more enjoyable eating experience. In rare cases a mangosteen fruit may not contain any seed. The best Mangosteen fruits are those with the highest number of stigma lobes, which indicate the highest number of fleshy segments and the fewest seeds. The number of stigma lobes and the number of fleshy segments always match. The rare mangosteen variety 'mesta' typically only has 2 to 3 hard seeds, so the fruit is relatively seedless.
In the pictures you can see the shape of the mesta variety is a little bit oblong, compared to the regular variety, with a more pointed tip. Fruits are slightly smaller and the exterior rind a little thicker.
The mesta variety is grown in Pahang and Sabah, Malaysia.
Mangosteen may not be a true speciesThere is some evidence to support a theory that Mangosteen may actually be a result of a cross between two other Garcinia species. This would explain the unusual fact that Mangosteen seeds appear only to result from asexual means.
http://www.mangosteen.com/Sciencenonscienceandnonsense.htmMangosteen is very unusual in that it grows true from seed, 100% genetically identical, since the "seeds" are actually adventitious embryos (or hypocotyl tubercles). The species Mangosteen is olbligate agamospermous (seeds only form asexually). However, all other Garcinia species only propagate seed via sexual reproduction (having separate male and female flowers on the same plant).
You might be inclined to think therefore that all Mangosteen trees in existence would be genetically identical, but this was found not to be true. A genetic study showed that some mangosteen lineages had a small amount of genetic variation, while a small number had as much as a 22-31% variation. This suggests that the original mangosteen lineage could have been crossbred at some point with another Garcinia species, possibly resulting in hybrid lineages capable or sexual reproduction (that have now been lost) that could then have been repeatedly backcrossed with mangosteen.
Mangosteen fruit has been cultivated for at least 500 years, perhaps several thousand years, in what is today Indonesia. There is one theory that the fruit might actually have first been domesticated in Thailand, although it was not native to this range.
I will also point out that a similar situation exists for the rare Wood's Cycad, Encephalartos woodii, in which there are no surviving females of the species, although some speculate this could be evidence that Wood's Cycad might have just been a localized natural hybrid between E. natalensis and E. ferox, as it is naturally possible for the cycad to propagate clonally through offshoots.
Domesticated mangosteen is probably mostly, or entirely, descended from the wild species Garcinia Malaccensis.
The following link says researchers had previously mistook another species G. penangiana for G. malaccensis (an easy mistake to make because many of these wild species are so obscure and bear a similar resemblance) and that this error added confusion for some time as to what the true origins of mangosteen may have been.
http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10722-014-0097-2It's also quite possible 'mesta' could simply just be a sport of mangosteen (i.e. a clonal mutation).