Does Mango Continue to Ripen After Cut? What To Do Next…
Cutting into a mango will stop the ripening process. So make sure you are confident it is ripe before you make that initial cut!
TL;DR
- mangoes will not ripen once it is cut
- raw mangoes are still delicious and edible, so do not throw them away!
- use tried and tested methods to determine when your mango is ripe before cutting the skin
Does Mango Continue to Ripen After Cut?
If you have just cut into an unripe mango, we have some bad news.
Once the skin of a mango is cut or broken, it stops ripening.
Mangoes (like cantaloupe) produce a natural ripening hormone called ethylene. Unfortunately, the mango stops producing ethylene once the skin is broken or cut. So the key to enjoying ripe fruit every time is knowing when your mangoes are ripe.
This naturally brings us to the next question…
How to Tell When a Mango is Ripe?
Learning to tell when a mango is ripe will save you from ruining mangoes and a lot of future disappointment.
The good news is that it isn’t hard. It would help if you familiarized yourself with a few fundamental rules:
- Color of skin – one of the first ways of determining the ripeness of mango is skin color. Ripe mangoes will display bright colors to signal that it is ready to be eaten. Colors you should look for include yellow, orange, and rosy red. The colors will vary between different mango varieties. However, the one color that is consistent, no matter the type, is green equates to an unripe mango.
- Tenderness – once you have a nicely colored mango, the pressure test is next. Gently squeeze your mango to feel if the skin is under pressure. A ripe mango will give a little. At the same time, an unripe mango will feel hard with very little give. At the other end of the spectrum, if your mango feels soft and mushy, it may be overripe. But don’t despair – overripe mangos are great for making smoothies and frozen yogurts.
- Smell – the last test we use to determine if we should cut into a mango is the smell. Ripe mangoes release a wonderful sweet scent that is unmistakably a delicious mango ready to be enjoyed. Unripe mangos won’t smell sweet. You shouldn’t be able to detect any scent from them at all.
If you prefer to watch a video about how to tell if a mango is ripe, check out this video by Earth Monkey
How to Ripen Mangoes Quickly
Let’s say you have used the above tips to test the ripeness of your mangoes and think it’s unripe and needs a helping hand to speed up the process.
Here are a few ways to accelerate the ripening process by harnessing that naturally occurring gas, ethylene.
Brown paper bag
You may have heard about this tip before, and for a good reason – it works.
Grab a standard grocery brown paper bag and place your unripe mango inside.
Scrunch up the mouth of the bag so that it remains loosely closed. The idea is to seal in the ethylene gas released by the mango but not make the bag airtight to the point that it prevents airflow.
If you seal your mango without any airflow, it may begin to sweat and encourage mold growth.
As the ethylene gas collects around your mango, the ripening process hastens, and it will mature quickly.
Place it in an Oven
If you don’t have a brown paper bag on hand, you can use the same theory and replace the bag with your oven.
Don’t get us wrong – we’re not going to cook your mango!
We will use the airtight seals of the oven to trap the ethylene and expedite the ripening process of the mango.
IMPORTANT – make sure you don’t forget about your mango and accidentally turn it on to pre-heat the oven. We’ve done it before, and you end up with a glorious mess!
Mangoes and Bananas – an Unlikely Friendship
Too impatient to wait for your mango?
Try pairing your unripe mango with a ripe banana. Bananas release a surprisingly large amount of ethylene gas. By including a banana in the brown paper bag (or oven), the additional ethylene gas will get your mango ripe in no time!
What To Do With Unripened Mangoes?
If you are in the unfortunate position of already cutting into an unripe mango – we feel your pain.
But we bring good news!
Before you angrily ditch it in the bin, check out these creative ways of using unripened mangos:
- Green mango ginger chutney – in under 30 minutes, you can turn your unripened mango into a delicious chutney with a (ginger and chili) kick.
- Sweet and sour snack – this brings back some childhood memories of a trip to Malaysia. They would sell pickled green mango slices with crumbled palm sugar in bags on the street. Refreshing and healthy!
- Mango salsa – turn your mistake into a happy accident by using the tart mango flesh in a delicious mango salsa to accompany any meal.
How to Ripen Mango After Cut – Final Thoughts
Cutting into a mango only to discover it is unripe can be an extremely disappointing and frustrating experience.
The best way to avoid this is to familiarize yourself with the three techniques we identified in this article for telling when a mango is ripe.
Don’t worry if you have already cut into the unripe mango – you can still put it to great use. Try making it into a delicious and healthy snack, salsa, or chutney.
Resources Used
- Ethylene. (2022, October 5). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethylene