REFERENCED QUOTES ON MANGO

"MANGIFERA INDICA L. Mango (E,Cu,S) . Widely cultivated in Panama, the renowned mango tends to seed itself easily, although fruits from spontaneous seedlings may have the flavor of turpentine. The mango, besides being eaten as a ripe fruit, is used as follows in India. When green, the stone is extracted, the fruit halved or sliced, and put in curries, made into brine pickles, said to taste like olives, made into preserves by boiling and cooking in sugar, boiled and strained with milk and sugar made into a custard known as mango-fool, sundried and subsequently used to add acidity to certain curries, when very young cut into small pieces, mixed with salt, sliced peppers and milk to form a tasty salad. When ripe, it is made into curries and salads like above, the juice is squeezed out, spread thinly on plates and allowed to dry into a cake, the seeds, removed from the woody husk, may be boiled with potherbs eaten roasted, or ground to form a flour, which tends to induce constipation. Cubans substitute mangoes for squash, eat fried mangoes, mango fritters, mango omelets, and if there is rice, then rice with mangoes. Young flowers and newly unfolded leaves are said to be edible but could be dangerous to sensitive people. The sap may cause a rash like poison oak. Nonetheless, gum from the trunks is eaten in India, and is used for mending pottery. The twigs and leaves, used to clean the teeth, are said to be beneficial to the gums, while the bark is said to be useful for toothaches. The astringent stomachic bark is also used for internal hemorrhages, bronchitis , and catarrh. The resin is used for cracked feet, ringworm, and other fungi, syphilis, and to induce sweating. Smoke from the burning leaves is believed to cure various throat disorders, from asthma to hiccups. Dried flowers are used to treat gleet. Green fruits are considered anticholeric (baked and mixed with sugar and taken internally and also rubbed over the body), antidysmenorrheic, antiscorbutic, astringent, and diaphoretic. Roasted green fruits are dissolved in sugar water and taken internally to prevent sunstroke and they may be just rubbed on the body. Ripe fruits are considered diuretic, laxative, and unguent, and the gum is used to treak scabies; the seeds are anthelmintic, antiasthmatic, antimenorrhagic, antidysesnteric, and unguent. A gruel made of the seeds is taken internally for bleeding piles. The wood is favored for making shovels for working in the Salinas around Aguadulce."

Morton, J. 1987. Mango. p. 221239. In: Fruits of warm climates. Julia F. Morton, Miami, FL:
"Toxicity
The sap which exudes from the stalk close to the base of the fruit is somewhat milky at first, also yellowish-resinous. It becomes pale-yellow and translucent when dried. It contains mangiferen, resinous acid, mangiferic acid, and the resinol, mangiferol. It, like the sap of the trunk and branches and the skin of the unripe fruit, is a potent skin irritant, and capable of blistering the skin of the normal individual. As with poison ivy, there is typically a delayed reaction. Hypersensitive persons may react with considerable swelling of the eyelids, the face, and other parts of the body. They may not be able to handle, peel, or eat mangos or any food containing mango flesh or juice. A good precaution is to use one knife to peel the mango, and a clean knife to slice the flesh to avoid contaminating the flesh with any of the resin in the peel.

The leaves contain the glucoside, mangiferine. In India, cows were formerly fed mango leaves to obtain from their urine euxanthic acid which is rich yellow and has been used as a dye. Since continuous intake of the leaves may be fatal, the practice has been outlawed.

When mango trees are in bloom, it is not uncommon for people to suffer itching around the eyes, facial swelling and respiratory difficulty, even though there is no airborne pollen. The few pollen grains are large and they tend to adhere to each other even in dry weather. The stigma is small and not designed to catch windborne pollen. The irritant is probably the vaporized essential oil of the flowers which contains the sesquiterpene alcohol, mangiferol, and the ketone, mangiferone.

Mango wood should never be used in fireplaces or for cooking fuel, as its smoke is highly irritant.

Other Uses

Seed kernels: After soaking and drying to 10% moisture content, the kernels are fed to poultry and cattle. Without the removal of tannins, the feeding value is low. Cuban scientists declare that the mineral levels are so low mineral supplementation is needed if the kernel is used for poultry feed, for which purpose it is recommended mainly because it has little crude fiber.

Seed fat: Having high stearic acid content, the fat is desirable for soap-making. The seed residue after fat extraction is usable for cattle feed and soil enrichment.

Bark: The bark possesses 16% to 20% tannin and has been employed for tanning hides. It yields a yellow dye, or, with turmeric and lime, a bright rose-pink.

Gum: A somewhat resinous, red-brown gum from the trunk is used for mending crockery in tropical Africa. In India, it is sold as a substitute for gum arabic.

Medicinal Uses: Dried mango flowers, containing 15% tannin, serve as astringents in cases of diarrhea, chronic dysentery, catarrh of the bladder and chronic urethritis resulting from gonorrhea. The bark contains mangiferine and is astringent and employed against rheumatism and diphtheria in India. The resinous gum from the trunk is applied on cracks in the skin of the feet and on scabies, and is believed helpful in cases of syphilis.

Mango kernel decoction and powder (not tannin-free) are used as vermifuges and as astringents in diarrhea, hemorrhages and bleeding hemorrhoids. The fat is administered in cases of stomatitis. Extracts of unripe fruits and of bark, stems and leaves have shown antibiotic activity. In some of the islands of the Caribbean, the leaf decoction is taken as a remedy for diarrhea, fever, chest complaints, diabetes, hypertension and other ills. A combined decoction of mango and other leaves is taken after childbirth."