Mango is considered to be one of the 3 or 4 mildest tropical fruit. It is obtained from the tree with the same name.

It has an ovoid shape, non-edible rind and variable colour, from of pale yellow to dark red. The pulp is sticky and its coloration ranges from yellow to orange. The taste of ripe mangoes is sweet, and quite acid when still green. It is a juicy and fibrous fruit, with a stone inside. Its size oscillates between 5-20 cm long, weighing between 300-400 g, although some of them may get to weigh one kilo.

Mango is a fruit with a high content in glucids. Its non-soluble fibre content is low, as its caloric value. Mangoes may reduce the risk of contracting diseases in general because they intensify the immunological functions.

Mango (Mangifera indica L.) is considered to be one of the 3 or 4 mildest tropical fruit. It is obtained from the tree with the same name.

It has an ovoid shape, non-edible rind and variable colour, from of pale yellow to dark red. The pulp is sticky and its coloration ranges from yellow to orange. The taste of ripe mangoes is sweet, and quite acid when still green. It is a juicy and fibrous fruit, with a stone inside. Its size oscillates between 5-20 cm long, weighing between 300-400 g, although some of them may get to weigh one kilo.

Mango is also known as "tropical peach’ for its orange colour and pleasant taste. The most trustworthy sign of its maturation is its smell. If we press the fruit when ripe, the fingers deepen easily.

For its extraordinary taste, aroma, colour and texture it is ideal fruit to be eaten on its own, in fruit salads, to make sherbets, cakes and jam, to mix in salads and even to cook it as seasoning for meat and fish. In India, green mangoes are the basic ingredient to make the traditional chutney.

Mangoes are laxative and highly nutritious. They are an important source of vitamin A and they have a small content of vitamin B and C.

Each 100 g of edible mango provide with 60,28 kcal, 0,5 g of protein, 0,10 g of fat, 15,30 g of carbohydrate, and 1,50 g of fibre.

Among the minerals stand out the iron, but it also supplies potassium, phosphorus, sodium and calcium.

Ripe mangoes do not withstand transport very well because they are very sensitive to bruises and they get damaged by low temperatures (below 13ºC). The fruit harvested when still green reaches maturation at temperatures between 25 and 30ºC.

The optimal temperatures of storage for this type of fruit are 13ºC for ripe and green mangoes; the optimal relative moisture oscillates between 90-95%.

Green mangoes must be kept at environmental temperature until they reach the optimal point for their consumption. If we want to eat it cool it can be stored in the fridge before serving and only the necessary time to cool it.

Mangifera indica L. is the most important member of the Anacardiaceae. Almost all the species of the family are characterized by the channels of resin and many of them are popular for their irritating and poisonous sap, that may cause severe dermatitis.

The typical mango is a perennial tree of medium size, 10-30 m. The trunk is more or less straight, cylindrical, 75-100 cm of diameter. Its bark is of a grey colour and the crown is dense and slightly oval or globular. The branches are thick and robust, frequently with alternate groups of long and short internodes. The leaves are alternate, irregularly spaced along the small branches, with a long or short petiole. The limb of the leaf is oblong lanceolate, coriaceous, smooth in both surfaces, of a dark bright green colour on the upperside, green-yellowish on the lower surface. The measure of these leaves is usually 10-40 cm long and 2-10 cm wide.

In natural conditions, mangoes have a main tap-root and a system of superficial nutritional roots with a Maximum concentration in the first 250 cm of soil.

The mango flowers usually bloom at night and at the beginning of the day, reaching their maximum opening between 9 and 11 in the morning. The polygamous flowers are placed in the dense tops or the last small branches, and are of a yellowish-green colour, 0,2-0,4 cm long and 0,5-0,7 cm of diameter when they are widely open. The sepals are free, deciduous, of oval or oval-oblong shape, somewhat pointed or obtuse and of a pale yellowish-green or yellow colour.

The petals remain free from the disc and are deciduous, ovoid or ovoid-oblong and they have bent tips. They are yellowish-white with purple veins and three to five ochre strips that later on turn into orange. These petals measure 0,3-0,5 cm long and 0,12-0,15 wide. The old petals sometimes have pink margins, the disc is large, with 4 or 5 lobes on the base of the petals. They usually have between 4 and 5 stamina of different length, and only one or two of them are fertile. The perfect stamina measure between 0,2-0,3 cm of length, with ovoid-oblong, obtuse, smooth anthers.

The grains of pollen germinate between 1 and 2 hours after their adhesion to the stigma. The pollination of mangoes is entomophilous, being the Dipterous insects such as the common fly the main pollinators; along with diverse hymenopterous (common bee), lepidopterous (butterflies), and heteropterous insects.

Botanically, this fruit is a drupe that varies in shape and size. It is usually ovoid-oblong, remarkably flat-topped, round or obtuse in both ends, 4-25 cm long and 1, -10 cm wide, of green, yellowish-green, yellow, or orange colour when ripe, some varieties are tinged of purple, red or orange. It is extremely juicy and tasteful; the endocarp is thick and woody with an external fibrous layer that may spread into the flesh. The seed is flat-topped, covered by the testa and the integument and formed to a large extent by cotyledons. It does not contain endosperm.