Fruit
Mangifera indica
S tier
Mangifera indica is the cultivated mango species that dominates global trade—evergreen tropical trees bearing large fleshy drupes around a flat fibrous stone. Cultivars span stringy juice fruit, buttery dessert types, and green cooking mangoes used for pickles and salads. Skin colour at ripeness varies from green to full red blush; aroma at the stem end is the reliable ripeness cue. Eat ripe fruit fresh, blend into lassi and smoothies, or cook green flesh with spice and salt. When a recipe says mango without a name, it means indica of some market class, not related wild Mangifera species. Fibre content and resin notes differ sharply between cultivars.
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Characteristics
Preparations
Traits
Grading systems
Grades are placed along a shared scale so systems can be compared side by side.
History
South Asian domestication and selection established Mangifera indica as a cultural staple fruit.
Portuguese and other traders carried mango types from India into Africa and the Americas.
Colonial botanic gardens and plantations spread indica cultivars across the tropical belt.
Export programmes standardised a handful of indica cultivars for year-round supermarket supply.