Mangoes belong to the genus Mangifera, consisting of numerous species of tropical fruiting trees in the flowering plant family Anacardiaceae. The mango is indigenous to the Indian Subcontinent especially India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Southeast Asia. Cultivated in many tropical regions and distributed widely in the world, mango is one of the most extensively exploited fruits for food, juice, flavor, fragrance and color, making it a common ingredient in new functional foods often called superfruits. Its leaves are ritually used as floral decorations at weddings and religious ceremonies.
Etymology
The name mango is ultimately either from the Kodagu mange, the Malayalam manga, or the Tamil mangai, and was loaned into Portuguese in the early 16th century as manga, from where the Portuguese passed into English. The ending in -o appears in English and is of unclear origin.
Description
Mango trees (Mangifera indica L.) reach 35-40 m in height, with a crown radius of 10 m. The tree is long-lived with some specimens known to be over 300 years old and still fruiting. In deep soil the taproot descends to a depth of 20 ft, and the profuse, wide-spreading feeder roots also send down many anchor roots which penetrate for several feet. The leaves are evergreen, alternate, simple, 15-35 cm long and 6-16 cm broad; when the leaves are young they are orange-pink, rapidly changing to a dark glossy red, then dark green as they mature. The flowers are produced in terminal panicles 10-40 cm long; each flower is small and white with five petals 5-10 mm long, with a mild sweet odor suggestive of lily of the valley. The fruit takes from three to six months to ripen.
The ripe fruit is variable in size and color, and may be yellow, orange, red or green when ripe, depending on the cultivar. When ripe, the unpeeled fruit gives off a distinctive resinous sweet smell. In its center is a single flat oblong seed that can be fibrous or hairy on the surface, depending on the cultivar. Inside the seed coat 1-2 mm thick is a thin lining covering a single embryo, 4-7 cm long, 3-4 cm wide, and 1 cm thick.
As Food
A ripe mango is sweet, with a unique taste that nevertheless varies from variety to variety. The texture of the flesh varies between cultivars, some having a soft, pulpy texture similar to an over-ripe plum, while others have firmer flesh like a cantaloupe or avocado. In some cultivars, the flesh has a fibrous texture.
In Indian Cuisine
In western recipes of ‘Chutney’, ripe mangoes are often used, but chutney in the Indian subcontinent is usually made with sour, unripe mangoes and hot chilis or limes. In India, ripe mangoes are often cut into thin layers, desiccated, folded, and then cut. These bars, known as aampapdi,’ amavat or halva in Hindi, are similar to dried guava fruit bars available in Colombia. In many parts of India, people eat squeezed mango juice (called ras) on a variety of bread. This is part of the meal rather than a dessert. Unripe mangoes (which are extremely sour) are eaten with salt, and in regions where food is hotter, with salt and chili.
In Kerala, ripe mangoes are used in a dish called mambazha kaalan.
In Maharashtra,moramba (a kind of preserve, made from jaggery and mango) and aamrus (Pulp/Thick Juice made of mangoes, with a bit of sugar if needed and milk at times) are famous. A spicy, sweet and sour semi-liquid side-dish called meth-amba is made from unripe mango slices called kairi, jaggery and fenugreek seeds. They can be enjoyed with poories and polies, like jam.
In India mango is used as pickle (aachar), amawat, murraba, sukhawata & chatnior chutney.
During the hot summer months, a cooling summer drink called panha (in Marathi) and panna (across north India) is made with raw mango. Mango lassi is made by adding mango pulp to the North Indian yoghurt drink lassi.
The fruit is also used in a variety of cereal products, in particular muesli and oat granola. Dried and powdered unripe mango is known as amchur (sometimes spelled amchoor) in India and ambi in Urdu. Amb is a Sindhi, aamba a Marathi, and aam a Hindi/Urdu/Punjabi word for mango.
Nutrient & Antioxidant Properties
Mango is rich in a variety of phytochemicals and nutrients that qualify it as a model “superfruit”, a term used to highlight potential health value of certain edible fruits. The fruit is high in prebiotic dietary fiber, vitamin C, polyphenols and carotenoids.
Mango contains essential vitamins and dietary minerals. The antioxidant vitamins A, C and E comprise 25%, 76% and 9% of the Dietary Reference Intake (DRI) in a 165 g serving. Vitamin B6 (pyridoxine, 11% DRI), vitamin K (9% DRI), other B vitamins and essential nutrients such as potassium, copper and 17 amino acids are at good levels. Mango peel and pulp contain other phytonutrients, such as the pigment antioxidants – carotenoids and polyphenols – and omega-3 and -6 polyunsaturated fatty acids.
The edible mango peel has considerable value as a source of dietary fiber and antioxidant pigments. Contained within the peel and pulp are rich contents of polysaccharides as fiber sources, especially starch and pectins.
Antioxidants of the peel and pulp include carotenoids, such as the provitamin A compound, beta-carotene, lutein and alpha-carotene, polyphenols such as quercetin, kaempferol, gallic acid, caffeic acid, catechins, tannins, and the unique mango xanthone, mangiferin, any of which may counteract free radicals in various disease mechanisms as revealed in preliminary research. Contents of these phytochemicals and nutrients appear to vary across different mango species Up to 25 different carotenoids have been isolated from mango pulp, the densest content for which was beta-carotene accounting for the yellow-orange pigmentation of most mango species. Peel and leaves also have significant content of polyphenols, including xanthones, mangiferin and gallic acid.
The mango triterpene, lupeol is an effective inhibitor in laboratory models of prostate and skin cancers An extract of mango branch bark called Vimang, isolated by Cuban scientists, contains numerous polyphenols with antioxidant properties in vitro and on blood parameters of elderly humans.
The pigment euxanthin, known as Indian yellow, is often thought to be produced from the urine of cows fed mango leaves; the practice is described as having been outlawed in 1908 due to malnutrition of the cows and possible urushiol poisoning. One author claims these descriptions of the pigment’s origin rely on a single anecdotal source and Indian legal records do not mention such a practice being outlawed.
