How to select for best flavor:

Choose shiny mangoes with unblemished skin that are beginning to get red or orange blush. They should be slightly springy when gently squeezed. Avoid mangoes that are too soft or mushy, fruit with blemished or broken skin or mangoes that are completely green, as they will not ripen well.

Peak of the season:

May to September is the season for mangoes. The best selection is available in June when the Florida crop comes in. The rest of the time, mangoes come from Mexico on the West Coast, Haiti and the Caribbean on the East Coast.

Nutritional value:

One mango provides nearly eight times the amount of vitamin A recommended daily by the USDA, along with nearly all of the vitamin C. All this with only 137 calories, 4 mgs. of sodium and, of course, no cholesterol.

General information:

Mangoes will ripen in a warm room, if they have already started to blush orange or red. Completely green mangoes will not usually ripen properly. There are many varieties of mango, but the most popular in the United States are the Alphonso, grown in South Africa, Southeast Asia and Florida; and the Summer Mango from Florida and the West Indies. The Alphonso is roughly kidney-shaped and can range in color from green with a red blush to yellow with red spots. The summer mango will range in color from orange to red.

Mangoes are fairly exotic in the United States, but in the rest of the world, the mango is the most common tropical fruit. In tropical regions, one variety or another of mango is a staple of most diets.