March 19, 2020

Mango Fun Facts: Surprising Trivia About the King of Fruits

By Prashant Powle • 6 minute read

Mango fun facts: the mango is the national fruit of India, Pakistan and the Philippines, India grows roughly 43% of the world's mangoes, and the word itself travelled from Tamil through Malayalam and Portuguese. Here are ten facts worth knowing, with Alphonso details.

To order, browse GI-tagged Ratnagiri Hapus.

10 fun facts about mangoes

10 amazing facts about mango — infographic showing mango history, nutrition and varieties

It is a national fruit three times over. The mango is the national fruit of India, Pakistan and the Philippines.
India grows the most. India produces roughly 43% of the world's mangoes, about 26 million tonnes in 2023. The FAO figure also includes mangosteens and guavas, so treat it as a close estimate.
The name travelled. The English word mango comes from the Portuguese manga, which came from Malayalam. The root is the Tamil man plus kay, meaning mango fruit.
A poet praised it in the 13th century. Amir Khusrau called the mango the fairest fruit of Hindustan.
An emperor planted a huge orchard. Emperor Akbar is recorded as planting an orchard of 100,000 trees near Darbhanga, Bihar.
Alphonso carries a Portuguese name. The variety is named after Afonso de Albuquerque, and mango grafting was introduced in Portuguese Goa by Jesuit missionaries.
Named varieties are grafted. Indian-group mango cultivars are monoembryonic, so named varieties such as Alphonso are propagated by grafting.
Alphonso is a medium fruit. Alphonso fruits generally weigh 150 to 300 g.
Ripening takes about two weeks. From harvest to ripening, Alphonso takes about 15 days.
Mango has botanical cousins. The mango, cashew and pistachio all belong to the Anacardiaceae family.

Each fact above comes from a source we could check, and where a figure covers more than mangoes, we say so. Alphonso is called Hapus in Marathi, and you will see both names on our site.

Where mango history meets the Konkan

The mango has been grown in the Indian subcontinent for a very long time, and it turns up in poetry, court records and festival rituals. The facts above from Amir Khusrau and Akbar are two of the best-documented. The Konkan coast joins that story through Alphonso. Konkan is a stretch of the western coast of India between the Arabian Sea and the Deccan Plateau, and Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg are among its districts. Devgad is a taluka in Sindhudurg district.

That is the belt we buy from. We source across 48 villages of the Ratnagiri and Devgad belt, and our Alphonso is hand-harvested with a zela pole fitted with a catching net. Alphonso from this area is GI-tagged in India (GI No. 139), and we hold GI Authorised User certificate AU/5974/GI/139/260 (GI No. 139). For more on the places, see our guide to Ratnagiri and Devgad Alphonso.

Mango nutrition facts in numbers

These figures are for 100 g of raw mango and come from the general mango entry on Wikipedia. They describe mango as a fruit, not Alphonso alone, and they are not medical advice. If you manage a health condition, ask your doctor or dietitian how much mango suits you.

Selected nutrients in 100 g of raw mango
Nutrient	Amount	Share of Daily Value
Vitamin C	About 36 mg	Roughly 40%
Potassium	About 168 mg	6%
Folate	About 43 micrograms	Around 11%

Our longer mango nutrition facts guide covers calories and portion sizes.

Alphonso facts we can vouch for

Alphonso pulp is described as rich, creamy and non-fibrous. Alphonso can also develop spongy tissue, an internal flesh disorder. Research at ICAR-IIHR traced it to the seed shifting into germination mode at about 60% fruit maturity, which is why a fruit can look perfect outside and still disappoint inside. This is a known problem of the variety, not something peculiar to one seller.

The season matters too. Alphonso is harvested about February to June, with the best supply from March to May. The 2027 season opens on 1 February 2027, and fresh Alphonso is not sold outside the season, while Alphonso pulp tins are available all year. We do not use carbide. Our Alphonso mangoes are ripened naturally on hay beds. See our season page for dates.

Mango in the Indian kitchen

Ripe and raw mangoes are used very differently. Ripe fruit goes into aamras, lassi, shrikhand and kulfi. Raw mango, which is sour, is cooked into pickles and chutneys, and it is the base of aam panna, a cooling summer drink. Dry mango powder, called aamchur, is made from unripe mangoes and is used as a souring spice. Hindi even has a saying about mango and its stone, aam ke aam, guthliyon ke daam, which means profit from both the fruit and the seed.

If you want to cook with mango, start with the aam panna recipe, the aamras recipe or our list of mango recipes. Outside the season, a tin of Alphonso pulp stands in for fresh fruit.

Trade and trivia: mangoes abroad

The United States banned Indian mangoes in 1989 and lifted the ban in April 2007. Indian mangoes may enter under conditions that include irradiation before shipment, and importers should check current rules with their customs agent. We ship directly to the UAE; shipments to other countries have been arranged through the customer's contact abroad, so please write to us first.

Mango prices around the world range very widely, from roadside fruit to boxed gift fruit. Whatever the price, compare the variety, grade, count and weight of the box, and ask how the fruit was ripened before you pay.

Mango cousins on our shelf

W180 jumbo whole cashew nuts, a botanical relative of the mango in the Anacardiaceae family

Because cashew belongs to the same family as the mango, it makes a natural pairing on a snack plate. The cashew nut is the true fruit and grows at the end of the cashew apple. The seed sits inside a double shell that contains an allergenic phenolic resin, so the nut is eaten only after it has been shelled and roasted or steamed. We sell W180 whole cashew nuts and several other cashew grades.