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Mango ripening problem

15 years ago

This past week we bought 6 mangoes at the grocery store. THey were rock hard, so we left them on the counter to ripen. I would periodically check on them every couple of days, but they still seemed hard. When I picked one up, I discovered that all of the mangoes were half hard and near the branch side, all rotted and soft. Way too soft. Why did these mangoes only ripen on the side where it was attached to the branch and how do I prevent this from happening again? Thanks.

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Comments (6)

caliloo
15 years ago
I never even knew there WAS a Tropical Fruits forum... but look what I stumbled across while I was searching.

Alexa

Here is a link that might be useful: How to ripen mangos
dcarch7 d c f l a s h 7 @ y a h o o . c o m
15 years ago
There are many issues:

1. There are many varieties of mangos, they all ripen differently.

2. They may not be at the peak of their season.

3. They may have been picked way too early.

4. They may not have been shipped and stored properly.

Otherwise they do ripen nicely on the counter without any need to have a slice of apple or anything else.

You can learn to pick the best ones from the store. It's kind of like picking fresh fish. You can't put it in words as to how. It is almost a 6th sense.

Also you can tell when things are not going well before the mongo goes rotten. Cut it up and make pickled mongo.

dcarch
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ntt_hou
15 years ago
As most vegetable, you'd need to turn them occasionally for the fruit to ripe evenly.

As for mangoes, there are many varieties (I came from a country that grows mangoes). There are certain variety that, although riped, they stay green and hard.
jimster
15 years ago
I buy mangoes which are close to ready to use. I figure there is less time for something to go wrong if they are on the counter for only a day or two.

Color is not a good indicator of ripeness. A green mango can be ripe whereas a red one may not be. Gently press the mangoes and get ones which are not rock hard.

I don't know the names of the different varieties but I have tried various ones and can now select the kind I like visually.

Jim
Lars
15 years ago
I had a Manila Mango tree in Venice, and I had to pick the mangoes before they ripened, or else they would split while still on the tree. Manila mangoes are ripe when they turn yellow and have tiny brown speckles on them - and color is a very good indicator of ripeness for this variety. I had the tree for 15 years, and I would pick them when they were yellow, but before they had the brown speckles, which would occur within two days. Different varieties will be different colors when they are ripe, but most seem to get the brown speckles at their ripest. I always stored them in the fridge, and they would still ripen.

When buying mangoes, it is best, as Jim said, to buy them close to ripeness, if that is how you want to eat them. Many people in tropical countries like to eat them when they are still green and tart and often eat them with salt. Some varieties of mangoes get sweeter than others, and you learn this from experience. I have found the yellow ones to be sweeter than the red ones.

Lars
rvs053063
Original Author
15 years ago
I am very allergic to poison ivy. I've been having a similar reaction the last week and finally went to my allergist. He asked me if I've been eating mangoes, which I just started to take up. Apparently, people who are allergic to poison ivy are often allergic to some varieties of mangoes. Bummer. I could try different varieties and every time I'm wrong, I could wait a week for the symptoms to clear on Prednizone. But I guess I'm just going to give up mangoes. Sad.

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