Both in Thailand and other countries, people with skin problems, psoriasis, gastro-intestinal ulcers, arthritis, diabetes, allergy, hyper-thyroid, liver damage, kidney damage, cancer, aids, high blood pressure and Parkinson’s diseases have successfully alleviated their symptoms by using mangosteen-derived products. These products, developed from the findings of researchers of Thai Mangosteen Research and Development Center (MRDC), are cosmetics containing GM-1 from mangosteen, the dietary supplement containing synergistic mixture of GM-1 and refined food extracts, and the mangosteen essence with standardized content of GM-1 but without the rind material that may be contaminated with insecticides and has liver-toxic content of dark-brown tannins.

The success in developing these popular, widely-appreciated as safe and efficacious products results from the application of scientific findings of the researchers from MRDC in conjunction with innovative marketing techniques.

This presentation will describe the pathway of product development, starting from its beginning in 1977. The impression of volunteers and consumers who have used these products will be presented together with the modes of actions, particularly the immuno-modulating activities, that are responsible for the corresponding efficacy.