Eating mangoes with skin intact

Question

I grew up in a family where we had mangoes with the skin intact in fruit salad.

After I got married, I was exposed to the "fact" that "nobody" eats the skin of mangoes.

It is true that I have never seen anyone else besides my childhood family eat mangoes, which would explain why I have no idea that you would not eat the skin of mangoes.

Perhaps, my childhood was too impoverished that we even ate the skin of mangoes. Perhaps, eating skin of mangoes is not an unusual practice, I don't know.

A reason that seems valid is that there is too much chemicals on the skin. But then we would have to say that about strawberries, peaches, apples, wouldn't we?

And what about people in India, China, Japan, Germany, Indonesia or Brazil? Do they eat mangoes with the skin?

It seems such a waste not eating the skin.

Q1. Is it unusual to eat the skin of mangoes, unusual to include mango skin in fruit salads?

Q2. Does mango skin have more chemicals than the skin of other fruits, which we have to eat with their skin intact.

Answer 1

It's not about chemicals on the outside of the fruit; washing the fruit well should take care of that. Whether we eat the skin of any given fruit basically boils down to whether it a) tastes good and b) has a pleasant texture. For example, some people eat the skin of the kiwi, despite it having a hairy texture that many people find unpleasant. Many people do not eat the skins of mango because it tastes bitter and has a tough, fibrous texture, but if you don't mind the texture and enjoy that taste, go ahead, enjoy :)

Note: I'm seeing sources that say if you're particularly sensitive to poison oak, you should not eat mango skins, as they contain one of the chemicals in poison oak but in a much lesser quantity, so it might cause an allergic reaction. You'll probably also break out from touching the mango skin to peel it, so take that as a warning sign. This doesn't apply to the OP, since if you've been eating them all your life you're obviously not allergic, but might apply to other people googling this question.

Answer 2

Mango skin has an oil (natural, not an artificial pesticide) that commonly causes a reaction similar to poison oak or poison ivy. Not everyone is affected - your family probably has the good luck to be immune.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mango#Potential_for_contact_dermatitis

Answer 3

My personal experience with the skin on a mango is one from both sides of the fence. As a child my father would occasionally get mangoes in the summer months and my sisters and I would devour them fighting over who took the most. As I got older and started buying and cutting them myself I tried eating the skin because of how highly valued mangoes are in my family and it was just another way to get that much more mango out of each mango! Only so often do I run across a mango with a bitter skin. For the most part it’s just a bit chewier but has a bit of meat on it to give it good flavor. Eat your mango skins, it’s good for you and prevents waste of such a wonderful fruit.

Answer 4

I see this question a lot but what people always mistake is they think of a mango as just a mango, but there are thousands of varieties that taste different. some skins of mango hold on to fibers of the flesh and may have a different taste, others have a distinct taste on their own so it’s really the fact that the normal person in America doesn’t really know or think much of the fact that there are wildly different mangos. Across the world people have different experiences and people from other countries may have a more diverse knowledge of a common thing we have here, so eat it if you like it.

Answer 5

I have found some answers online.

Eating mango skin is good for you:

http://www.dirtdoctor.com/organic/garden/view_org_research/id/105/

Only eat the skin if the mango is organic:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4L3FJk9LNLI

Let me repeat the comments I made to Yamikuronue's answer:

• I have never encountered anyone who had such allergy.
• There is so far only one single research on this subject, and the same "research" has been referenced by every page attempting to document the subject, all over the internet.
• I'm afraid it could be simply like the doctor who fraudulently attributed autism to vaccination, which then everyone virally referenced his unverified "research" until some common-sensed people decided to verify his claims.
• Some people prefer calling it a peel. No, it's banana peel but mango skin.
• Wash the mango skin using fruit/veggie detergent or baking soda to wipe the pesticides and whatever-cides before they cutting the mango.
• Especially the ones you bought straight from the orchard.
• Mango skin has a layer of sticky oil that retains such chemicals well. Some people are hyper-sensitive to the pesticides and chemicals retained on the mango skin.
• A lady who had eaten mangoes all her life blogged that when she ate the mango with its skin intact from an orchard in FL, her lips started swell, and attributed it to the mythical presence of urushiol, she had just read.
• Wouldn't the "urushiol" could simply have easily merged into the cutting board too?

I am not saying that the presence of urushiol on mango skin is not a possibility. I am saying there is only one single "research" which so far has not been verified by any other, and therefore the presence of urushiol on mango skin should be considered mythical, or otherwise anecdotal.

• How is it possible that of so many people around me who are sensitive to poison ivy, there is not a single incidence of sensitivity to touching mango skin ???
• How is it possible that people could eat mangoes and that the urushiol could not have slipped and absorbed into the flesh, while slicing the mango ???