The mango is native to Southeast Asia. This fruit comes from trees that can grow up to 60 feet tall. To select the perfect mango, you must smell and squeeze it. A fresh fruit smell will come from the stem area when it is ripe. It should be easy to squeeze and the meat should give in to the pressure under your fingers. When the mango is ready to eat, you will enjoy a sweet, savory taste.
Energy
One mango can weigh upwards of 207 g. However, most of this weight is from water as the average mango contains about 169 g of it. Eating one fruit will provide approximately 135 calories and 0.2 g of monounsaturated fat. Mangoes are one of the few fruits that contain heart-healthy monounsaturated fats.
Carbohydrates and Proteins
When you first taste a mango, you might suspect it contains a large amount of sugar. When ripe, mangoes are a very sweet-tasting fruit. One large mango contains 35 g of carbohydrates; 31 g of these carbs come from sugar and the remaining 4 g come from fiber. Mangoes are also a healthy source of protein, containing 1 g per mango.
Vitamins
Mangoes provide an abundance of some essential dietary vitamins. One mango contains 79 micrograms of vitamin A and 921 micrograms of the precursor to vitamin A, beta-carotene. Beta-carotene makes vitamin A when it enters the body, and is just as essential in the diet as vitamin A. The recommended daily allowance of vitamin A is 900 micrograms for an adult male and 700 micrograms for an adult female; mangoes exceed the recommended amount of vitamin A, when beta-carotene is considered.
Mangoes also provide 29 micrograms of folate. Recommendations for this vitamin are 400 micrograms per day for an adult male or female. The mango contains 57 mg of vitamin C. With the recommended daily allowance of vitamin C at 75 mg for an adult female and 90 mg for an adult male, the mango provides a large amount of your daily values. Choline is another vitamin found in mangoes, with one mango providing about 16 mg of choline. Recommendations for choline are 425 mg per day for a woman and 550 mg per day for a man.
Minerals
Mangoes are a healthy source of major and trace minerals. Eating just one mango will give you 21 mg of calcium. There are 19 mg of magnesium, 23 mg of phosphorus and 323 mg of potassium in one mango. Trace minerals found in mangoes include zinc, selenium and iron.
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