As Americans we enjoy certain liberties that other countries do not. Yet, we also sacrifice certain items in order to ensure the safety of our people. One of those sacrifices includes a variety of exotic fruit that may be totally inexistent to you. One exotic fruit, mangosteen, is only grown in tropical climates. Since it is illegal to import this fruit, we miss out on having the opportunity to enjoy it.
The reason this exotic fruit, mangosteen, is illegal to transport to the United States is because it may carry fruit flies. The variety of fruit flies it carries has not been introduced to the United States and hopefully never will. In our attempt to keep these fruit flies from devastating American crops, we have banned the importation of a variety of exotic fruit such as mangosteen, rambutans, and longans.

The exotic fruit mangosteen is currently being grown in Hawaii, but even the Hawaiian version cannot be imported into the mainland. As a result of the ban, many Americans do not even know they exist. This is a shame since the fruit is considered to be the “Queen of Fruit.” The “King of Fruit,” the durian, is also banned.

There is a new technology that will perhaps change this situation for the exotic fruit mangosteen. Irradiation is a process where food is exposed to ionic radiation. This radiation acts on the exotic fruit mangosteen by disinfecting the fruit. Irradiation is becoming more and more popular. In fact, irradiation is also used to sterilize medical equipment and keep food fresh longer.

If this irradiation is proven to remove the threat of harmful fruit flies, this may change the future of America’s mangosteen market. In fact, it may give all Americans the chance to enjoy the exotic fruits that people in Southeast Asia have been enjoying for a very long time.