While mangoes used to be an exotic rarity, today you can get the sweet tropical fruit in every supermarket all year round. With their bright colors and juicy flesh, mangoes not only enrich smoothies and desserts, but are also used in cooking – for example, in mango chutney or as an ingredient in a Thai curry. But the health value of the mango fruit is also impressive: Mangoes are rich in beta-carotene and other important vitamins. In your country of origin, India, the fruits are even attributed numerous healing properties.
Calories and nutritional value of mango
A ripe mango tastes deliciously sweet – so it’s hardly surprising that its flesh contains a relatively high amount of sugar. For this reason, tropical fruits are not suitable for weight loss. In terms of calories, 100 grams of the fruit’s flesh are just under 60 kilocalories (kcal). In addition, 100 grams of a fresh mango have the following nutritional values:
- 0.4 grams of fat
- 0.6 grams protein
- 12.8 grams of carbohydrates (including 12.5 grams of sugar)
- 1.7 grams of dietary fiber
Mangoes consist of more than 80 percent water. Dried mango was deprived of water, the remaining ingredients are correspondingly higher concentration. Therefore, dried mango has a proud 290 kilocalories and 62 grams of carbohydrates per 100 grams – of which 60 grams are sugar.
Mango – rich in healthy ingredients
Despite their large sugar content, mangoes are very healthy. They owe their high health value mainly to their vitamin content. For mangoes are full of vitamin C, vitamin E and B vitamins, for example, vitamin B1 and folic acid. Among other things, these vitamins are valuable for the immune system and help protect cells from the negative effects of stress. However, mangoes are particularly rich in beta-carotene, the precursor of vitamin A. This vitamin not only plays an important role in cell renewal of the skin and the immune system, but is also needed for the visual process – so a deficiency of vitamin A can lead to night blindness. With three grams of beta-carotene per 100 grams of flesh, mangoes are among the most carotene-rich fruits. In addition to vitamins, mangoes also provide important minerals, such as potassium, magnesium and calcium.
Health effects of mango
Mangoes are a popular ingredient in baby food due to their low acidity. They are also very easy to digest and can even have mild laxative and diuretic effects. They are also said to boost metabolism, stimulate appetite and prevent infections and colds. Mangoes are also said to have a positive effect on the heart and brain. But not only the fruit, also the components of the mango trees are attributed a healing effect in India:
- Due to their tannins, the flowers are used, among other things, to treat diarrhea and cystitis.
- The bark is used for the treatment of rheumatism and diphtheria thanks to its active ingredient mangiferin. In ground form, it is used to strengthen the stomach, as a remedy for toothache and even to stop internal bleeding.
- Gargling with a decoction of leaves and twigs of the tree is said to care for the teeth and gums.
- Applied externally, the tree sap of the mango is said to relieve fungal skin diseases.
Caution with allergies
Caution is advised in case of allergy to cashews or pistachios: Mangoes are related to the two stone fruits from a botanical point of view, as they belong to the same plant family. Also, eating mango can lead to cross-allergy with birch pollen or mugwort. Here, especially the peel plays a role, as it contains the most allergens.
Tips for purchasing the mango fruit
Since the season of mangoes varies depending on the country of origin, mango fruit is usually available throughout the year. There are many varieties of mangoes, which differ in shape, color, size, as well as the texture of the pulp and taste. For this reason, the color of the skin says nothing about the ripeness of the fruit. Nevertheless, it is easy to recognize whether a mango fruit is ripe: even shortly before ripeness, mangoes exude a typical sweetish odor and give slightly when pressed carefully. When a mango is fully ripe, small black dots appear on the skin. When shopping, it may be worth spending more money, because good quality mangoes have their price.While the fruit at some discount stores is fibrous and tastes rather bland, delicatessens often carry high-quality “air mangoes” that are imported by air and therefore can ripen longer on the tree.
Shelf life and storage of mangoes
A ripe mango should be consumed within two days before it becomes too soft and begins to ferment. If you want to stock up on mangoes, you should therefore go for hard, unripe fruits. These can ripen at home at room temperature. If you want to speed up the ripening process, you can wrap the fruit in newspaper or place it next to an apple. However, storage in the refrigerator does not extend the shelf life of the mango, but harms the fruit: At temperatures below 8 °C, the flesh of the fruit loses flavor.
Processing: peel and cut the mango
Although the peel of a mango can be eaten with some varieties – in fact, in their countries of origin this is often common – it simply does not taste good to many people. Therefore, if you want to enjoy the juicy flesh of the fruit, you usually first have to free the mango from its peel and remove the stuck stone. To do this, after washing the mango, it is best to peel it with a peeler and cut it lengthwise with two parallel cuts, each to the side of the stone. Then cut the flesh of the center piece from the core and chop the pieces – depending on the recipe – into strips or cubes. If the fruit is already somewhat ripe, you can also simply cut the unpeeled mango as described above and then either spoon it out or conjure up a “mango hedgehog”. To do this, score the flesh in the two large pieces crosswise until just before the peel, creating a grid pattern. If you then turn the mango half upside down, the mango pieces are easy to eat.
Use of mangoes – not only in the kitchen.
Mangoes are used in the kitchen in many ways. For example, the fruit is suitable for the following uses:
- In savory dishes (especially in Indian cuisine), for example, tandoori chicken, coconut curry or as a mango chutney to grilled food.
- In salad, for example with arugula or chicory
- In sweet desserts such as sorbet, ice cream, fruit salad or cake
- Preserved as jam or compote
- Dried as a snack or in muesli
- In drinks, for example as juice or nectar, in cocktails, shakes, lassi or smoothies
However, the pulp is not all that a mango has to offer. From the seeds of the dried fruit mango seed oil or mango seed butter is obtained. Similar to cocoa butter, this vegetable oil is used, for example, in the production of chocolate or margarine. However, the oil is not only suitable for eating: Due to its refatting, moisturizing and regenerating effect, mango seed oil is also used in cosmetics such as shampoo, lip balm, soaps or creams. It is also used in medicinal ointments and creams.
Mango fruit fact sheet
Originally, the mango comes from India, where there is a long history of mango cultivation. To this day, India is the main exporting country of the stone fruit. However, the mango, also known as the “food of the gods”, is also grown in many other countries, for example in Thailand or Spain. In this country, only a few of the approximately 1,000 mango varieties known in their home country are available. Depending on the variety, the mango fruit is round, oval, heart-shaped or kidney-shaped. Its firm skin can be yellow, green or red – the flesh is often yellow or orange. Depending on the variety and the degree of ripeness, the flesh is firm or soft, fibrous or free of fibers. It is usually sweet and juicy, now and then slightly sour – some people find the taste reminiscent of peach. Inside the mango is a flat, usually firm seed, which in older varieties is surrounded by an inedible fibrous sheath. In newer cultivars, this sheath has often disappeared. With a little skill, by the way, amateur gardeners can grow their own mango tree from the kernel of the mango – even if it is unlikely to bear mango fruit in the local climate.
