Everyone has fond childhood memories of a sweet and floral flavour with a hint of tartness bursting across your taste buds. Whether you like mangoes in bite-size pieces or blended to make milkshakes, no one can deny that they eagerly await the arrival of the first batch of the season.
What if, despite all that wait, you cut up a mango to find it wasn’t sweet enough? There’s nothing more disheartening than a disappointingly sour mango. So how do you find out if the one you have chosen is ripe enough or not?
1. Scent: Mangoes have a characteristic tropical, sweet smell that is associated with their ripeness. Ripe fruits get their aroma from esters, an organic compound naturally present in fruits and enhance their flavour. The scent is more fragrant near the stem of the fruit, so smell there to check. The riper it is, the sweeter the scent.
2. Texture: Ripe mangoes are also considerably plumper and more rounded, whereas thin, flat mangoes are likely to be stringy. Brown specks and spots are common in ripe mangoes but avoid the ones with wrinkled or shrivelled skin.
3. Colour: The colour of the mangoes may also be an indicator of sweetness. Generally, mangoes turn a deep, golden yellow that indicates that they are perfectly ripe. But mangoes are available in various varieties and colours like Alphonso (yellow with red streaks), Badami (bright yellow), Chaunsa (deep golden yellow), and Langra (green). It is best to familiarise yourself with the different varieties available.
3. Weight: Perfectly ripe mangoes are heavy and firm, but they have a slight give and resistance from the fibre but no squishy spots. Nobody likes an overripe mango. It is best to get a semi-ripe mango if it’s not for immediate consumption to make them last longer.
Mangoes typically last for 7-14 days, depending on storage and degree of ripeness at harvest time. If you want to speed up ripening, keep them at room temperature. You can also place them in a sealed paper bag to make them sweeter and softer. They can turn overly ripe if kept at room temperature for too long and spoil quickly in a couple of days.
Mangoes are incredibly versatile and can spruce up your meal in the form of chutney, salsa, desserts or even beverages. With just 100 calories in a cup, they contain over 20 vitamins and minerals. They carry 67% of the Reference Daily Intake (RDI) of Vitamin C, which improves immunity, iron absorption and repair. Mangoes are packed with antioxidants and are high in fibre, and have qualities that make them superb for digestive health. So if you needed excuses to eat more of this tropical superfood, you have them now.
