How to know if a mango is ripe or not?

Mangoes are a delicious tropical fruit, whether you eat them fresh, juice them or add them to your favorite dishes. If you’ve never eaten a mango, you probably don’t know if your mango is ripe or not. Fortunately, there are a number of external and textural signs of the fruit that you can rely on to check the ripeness of a mango.

Table of Contents

Check the appearance of a mango

Consider the shape of a mango. For most mango varieties, round or rugby-shaped fruits are preferred over flat ones. However, you should also be aware that there are certain differences between mango varieties. ^{[1] X Research Source}

Ataulfo mangoes have a slightly flattened oval shape when ripe. The fruit of this mango variety is usually quite small.
Francis mango when ripe has an elongated and slightly curved S-shaped shape.
Haden mangoes are round or oval in shape. This mango variety is medium to large in size.
Keitt mango is an oval-shaped mango with large fruit.
Kent mango is also a large, oval-shaped mango.
Tommy Atkins mangoes are oval or oblong in shape. This mango variety usually has medium to large sized fruit.
Alphonse mango has an elongated form.
Edward mangoes come in both round and elongated forms.
Kesar mangoes are usually round in shape.
The Manila mango has a recognizable slim form.
Palmer mango has an elongated shape.

Check around the stalk. The flesh and skin around the stem should be plump and round. ^{[2] X Research Source}

When unripe, the stem end of the mango will be quite flat. The flesh, water, and sugar in the fruit are not fully developed. When the mango stops growing and starts to ripen, it will swell inside, causing the tip of the stem to rise slightly instead of being flat like when it was green.

Don’t judge the ripeness of a mango by color alone. The red color usually indicates the degree of sun exposure of the fruit, not just the ripeness of the fruit. Furthermore, the color of ripe mangoes will vary depending on the variety of mango. You should not rely solely on color to determine whether a mango is ripe or unripe. However, if you want to consider adding color to assess the ripeness of a mango, first you need to find out what color the mango varieties will be when ripe.

Ataulfo mangoes turn deep yellow when ripe.
Francis mango when ripe has a mixed color between green and yellow. The green color on the yellow pods will fade and turn more yellow. However, you should be aware that some fruits remain green when ripe.
Haden mango when ripe will turn from green to yellow. This variety also turns red easily, but not necessarily red when ripe.
Keitt mangoes remain green when ripe.
Kent mangoes are mostly still dark green when ripe, but often have a yellow tint or yellow spots on the skin.
Tommy Atkins mangoes have no obvious color rendition. When ripe, the pods are still yellow-green, turning dark yellow or deep red.
Alphonse mangoes when ripe will have a color from purple to dark yellow.
Edward mangoes are available in pink, yellow, or a blend of these two colors.
Kesar mangoes can remain green when ripe, but often have an additional yellow tint.
Manila mangoes are usually yellow-orange when ripe, but sometimes the rind turns pink.
Palmer mangoes can come in different colors, usually purple, red, and yellow, some of which are a mix of all three.

Notice the speckled dots on the mango peel. While it’s not always a sure sign, if a mango has a few brown spots on it, it’s likely ripe.

A mango without spots may still be ripe, especially depending on the variety. You should not rely solely on these spots to judge the ripeness of a mango.
Some mango varieties such as Kent may have yellow spots instead of brown.

Check out the aroma of mango

Choose a fragrant mango. Sniff the area around the stem of the mango. If there is a distinctly sweet smell of fruit, the mango is most likely ripe.

Smell the mango near the tip of the stem. The aroma will be strongest in this area, and you will know exactly how fragrant the mango is.
The aroma of mango will make you think of mango. Smell and taste are closely related, and the smell of something has a huge impact on how it tastes. ^{[3] X Research Sources}

Tactile test

Gently press the mango. When gently pressing on the side of the mango, you should feel the flesh of the mango “submerge” or concave slightly. Soft mango means ripe. ^{[4] X Research Sources}

A mango that doesn’t sink at all or is as hard as a rock when you press on it is not ripe enough to be eaten.
Of course, you also need to understand that soft mangoes are not good either. If the peel of a mango is punctured when you lightly press the tip of your finger in it, the mango is overripe.
To avoid accidentally crushing the mango, you should press the mango with your palm instead of your fingertips. Hold the mango in the palm of your hand and make a fist around the mango, pressing the fruit with the bottom of your palm.

Peel the mango fruit. Gently swipe your fingertips over the surface of the mango peel. Normally, the skin of a ripe mango will have some wrinkles.

However, you should note that a mango without wrinkles on the skin may still be ripe.
Mangoes with deep wrinkles on most of the skin are usually overripe.
Ataulfo mangoes are characterized by wrinkled skin when ripe. Other mango varieties may have subtle wrinkles on the skin, and there are varieties of mangoes whose skins remain smooth when ripe.

Assess the weight of the mango fruit. Pick up the mango and estimate its weight in your hand. A ripe mango will appear heavy for its size and heavier than an unripe mango.

If you want a more accurate estimate, compare the weight of a mango that may be ripe and a mango that you know is unripe. An unripe mango will be significantly lighter than a ripe one, especially with a mango of the same variety and size. If two mangoes appear to weigh the same, the mango you’re checking is probably underripe.

Ripening green mango

Store mangoes in brown paper bags. Although this step is optional, mangoes ripen faster when placed in a bag. ^{[5] X Research Sources}

Fruit will naturally produce ethylene gas when ripe. The hormone ethylene will stimulate the fruit to ripen even faster, and the brown paper bag will trap the ethylene gas produced during the ripening of the mango.
You can speed up the ripening of mangoes by putting an apple or banana in the bag along with the mango, as these two produce a lot of ethylene gas.

Remove the mango and leave at room temperature. Check the mango every day using the methods described above to see if the mango is ripe.

Mango ripening can take from 2-7 days, depending on the initial greenness of the mango.
Do not keep unripe mangoes in the refrigerator. Cold temperatures will slow the ripening of mangoes significantly, and green mangoes will often spoil in the refrigerator before they have a chance to ripen.

Store mangoes in the refrigerator when ripe. Ripe mangoes should be eaten immediately or stored in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.

Cold temperatures are the natural enemy of unripe mangoes, but a good friend to ripe mangoes. If you leave a ripe mango on the table at room temperature, it will start to spoil in just a day. However, if refrigerated, mangoes remain ripe and fresh for at least 4 or 5 days.

Things you need

Brown paper bag (optional)

Steps

Check the appearance of a mango

Check out the aroma of mango

Tactile test

Ripening green mango

Things you need

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