What Mango actually is?

The mango is a fleshy fruit that belongs to the genus Mangifera, consisting of many tropical fruit trees in the family of flowering plants named Anacardiaceae. The mango fruit is native to country India and then spread all across the globe. It is amongst the most cultivated fruits in the tropical world. Although other Mangifera species (like horse mango) are also grown on localized basis, the Indian mango or common mango (Mangifera Indica) is the only mango that is cultivated in several sub-tropical and tropical areas and its fruit is distributed worldwide.

In many cultures, the mango fruit and its leaves are ritually utilized as floral embellishments at weddings, religious ceremonies and public celebrations.

Mango as a Food  

The mango fruit is usually sweet, though its texture and taste differs across cultivars. Few mangoes have a pulpy and soft texture, few have firmer flesh, and few may also have fibrous texture. During the consumption of pickled, cooked or unripe mangoes, the mango skin may be comfortable to consume but can cause gingiva or dermatitis of the lips. One can make under-ripe mangoes ripened by keeping it in brown paper bags. After that, the mangoes can be kept in plastic bags in fridge for 4 or 5 days. In ripened mangoes that are eaten fresh, the skin may be bitter-tasting and thicker, so is usually not eaten.

Mango in Cuisine

Mango fruit is extensively used in cuisine. Unripe and sour mangoes are used in pickles, side dishes, athanu and chutneys or may be eaten raw with chili, soy sauce or salt. A cool summer beverage called panha or panna is also made up of mangoes. Mango jelly is prepared using mango pulp. A dish named ‘mangai paruppu’ in Tamil and ‘mamidikaya pappu’ in Telugu is prepared by cooking the mangoes with green chillies and red gram dhal.

Mango Lassi, made up of ripe mangoes, is popular throughout South Asia. Aamras is a thick juice made up of mangoes along with milk or sugar and is eaten up with rice or bread. Ripe mangoes are used in preparing many other things, like jams. They are also used in preserves such as amchur, moramba and pickles.

Mango fruit has many other uses in cuisine. It is used to prepare ice cream, juices, smoothies, fruit bars, pies, raspados, sweet chili sauce, etc. Fine slices of mango can be used as toppings on ice cream or can be blended with milk to make milk shake (known as mango shake). Green mangoes may be used in salads with dried shrimp and fish sauce.

Nutritional Value

Nutrients present in Mango

Mango contains a large amount of nutrients & phyto-chemicals. Its pulp is rich in vitamin C, diverse polyphenols, pre-biotic dietary fiber and pro-vitamin A carotenoids. Vitamin A, vitamin B6 and other B vitamins, copper, amino acids, potassium and foliate are also present in mango pulp in certain quantities. Mango peel & pulp contain phyto-nutrients, like polyphenols and carotenoids, omega 6 and 3 poly-unsaturated fatty acids. Mango peel also contains pigments which have anti-oxidant properties – carotenioids such as beta carotene, pro-vitamin A, lutein and alpha carotene; poly-phenols such as kaempferol, caffeic acid, tannins, catechins, gallic acid and quercetin.

How mango is good for health?

Let us study how the nutrients present in mango benefit the human body:

• The phenols (like isoquercitrin, fisetin, methyl-gallat, gallic acid etc.) present in mango have cancer-preventing capacity.
• 1 cup of cut mangoes provides 25% of daily recommended amount of vitamin A that promotes good insight. Consuming mangoes daily also prevents refractive errors, night blindness, softening of cornea, burning in the eyes and itching.
• Mangoes hold digestive enzymes which help in breaking down proteins and help in digestion. It combats poor digestion and acidity.
• Mangoes are advantageous to those who are wishing to gain weight. There are 75 calories in a mango weighing 100 grams. Thus, sweet and ripe mangoes, when taken with milk, are very beneficial in weight gain.
• Mangoes are also effective in relieving clogged skin pores. For this, you need to take out the peel of mango and apply mango pulp on the mouth for 10 min and then wash it. Eating mangoes daily makes the skin shining and soft and complexion fair.
• Mango leaves help in normalizing the levels of insulin in the blood. For this, boil a few leaves along with water and let it saturate over night. Consume filtered decoction the next morning; it is a good home remedy for diabetic patients.
• Vitamin E, available in abundant amounts in mangoes, helps to control sex hormones and enhances sex drive.
• For pregnant women, mangoes are very beneficial due to high iron content present in them. Also after menopause, when women become weak, they should consume mangoes and other similar fruits that are high in iron content.
• Mangoes are beneficial for those kids who lack concentration in study, since the mangoes contain Glutamine acid that keeps cells active and boosts memory.
• Unripe mangoes are a great source of pectin and provide excellent remedy for heat exhaustion and heat stroke when steamed & juiced with rock salt, sugar and cumin.

Average content of raw mango (100 grams / 3.5 oz)

Mango Calories

Let us see how many calories are there in a mango:

• 1 cup sliced raw mango (approx. 5.8 oz) = 107 calories
• Red mango calories = 90 in ½ cup (sliced)