7 Sweetest Mango Varieties for Your Home Garden
Mangoes vary widely in sweetness, and the sweetest mango varieties can taste very different from the typical fruit at a grocery store. Sweet mangoes depend on a variety with the genetics for sugar, fruit picked at the right stage, and careful ripening afterward. Brix, a measure of dissolved sugar, gives a way to compare varieties, and a few habits at home bring out the most sweetness in any mango.
Brix Scale and Sweetness Measurement
Degrees Brix (°Bx) measures the soluble solids in a liquid, and 1 °Bx equals 1 gram of sucrose per 100 grams of solution. A refractometer reads it by checking how much light bends through a drop of juice, because dissolved solids bend light more. Sugars make up about 90 percent of the soluble solids in a mango, and sucrose is the main sugar, so a Brix reading tracks sweetness fairly well. It does not track it perfectly, because acids and pectins in the juice register too, and sourness changes how sweet a mango tastes.
As a mango ripens, starch converts to sugar and acidity falls, so Brix climbs and one fruit can read low at harvest and much higher once ripe. In one university trial, a single cultivar measured 8.8 °Bx at harvest and 17.4 a week later. In a comparison of 20 ripe cultivars grown in India, readings ran from about 16 to more than 25 °Bx.
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Factors that Affect Mango Sweetness
How much sugar a mango can reach depends first on the cultivar. In one trial, ripe fruit of 19 cultivars grown side by side still measured from about 12 to 17 °Bx after a week on the shelf.
Fruit picked too early ripens short on sugar, and a mango tastes best when it ripens on the tree. Mature fruit has full shoulders and a filled-out nose, and the flesh near the seed has turned from white to yellow.
Weather and growing conditions affect sweetness from year to year: Tommy Atkins measured 8.9 °Bx at harvest in one season and 11.3 in another within the same trial. Sunlight drives sugar production, because leaves make the sugars that move into the fruit.
Sweetest mango varieties ranked
Sweetness varies with region, growing conditions, and cultivation methods, so the same variety can read differently from one study to the next. In a comparison of ripe cultivars grown in India, Amrapali topped most varieties at 25.2 °Bx. Here are the sweetest varieties we carry at Everglades Farm.
Mallika: A cross of Neelum and Dasheri, Mallika posted one of the highest Brix readings in a comparison of ripe fruit from 20 cultivars: 23.7 °Bx. The fruit weighs 10 to 16 ounces and has fiberless, deep orange flesh with a rich, aromatic sweetness. It ripens early in the season.
Dasheri: Also spelled Dashehari, this variety is grown in northern India, including Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, and Punjab. The fruit is small to medium with fiberless flesh. It read 22.8 °Bx in the same Indian comparison, just behind Mallika.
Alphonso: Grown in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka, and Madhya Pradesh, Alphonso read 21.8 °Bx in the same Indian comparison, about a point below Dasheri.
Kent: This large mango weighs 21 to 26 ounces and has greenish-yellow skin with a red to crimson blush. The pulp has little fiber and a sweet, rich flavor. It began as a Coconut Grove, Florida seedling of Brooks in 1944, and ripe fruit has measured 20.0 °Bx. It ripens later in the season than Mallika, Nam Doc Mai, and Carabao.
Ataulfo: Selected in Mexico, this mango weighs about 7 to 10 ounces and has low-fiber flesh with a sweet, slightly acid flavor. Ripe fruit has measured 19.2 °Bx.
Nam Doc Mai: This Thai variety weighs 12 to 16 ounces and has soft, juicy flesh. Its sugar climbs fast after picking, and the fruit can also be eaten at the green, firm stage.
Carabao: This Philippine mango weighs 10 to 15 ounces and has very low fiber and tender, melting flesh with a sweet, mildly spicy aroma. A selected strain tested as the sweetest among the mango selections introduced in a national Philippine program.
Why Supermarket Mangoes aren't as Sweet
Supermarket mangoes are picked mature but firm so they survive shipping. Mexico's export minimum is about 7 percent soluble solids at harvest, while the same varieties reach 18 to 20 percent when fully ripe. Fruit shipped near that minimum still has to build most of its sugar, and it only gets there if it ripens fully.
Unripe mangoes chilled below about 50°F can suffer chilling injury, and the damage may not show until the fruit warms up. A mango that spent days in a cold truck or a home refrigerator before ripening often ends up bland no matter how it looks. Commercial varieties are also chosen partly for how well they ship and store, which does not always match how sweet they taste.
How to choose a sweet mango
A ripe mango gives slightly under gentle pressure, while very soft or wrinkled fruit is overripe. A sweet aroma at the stem end signals ripeness, and fruit that feels heavy for its size tends to be juicier.
Skin color varies with the variety and sun exposure and does not show ripeness, so a red blush says little about sweetness. A firm mango is a fine buy if it has time to ripen at room temperature.
How to maximize mango sweetness at home
Mangoes ripen in three to eight days at 70 to 75°F after harvest. A paper bag speeds the process, while higher temperatures can shrivel the fruit and cause off flavors. Unripe mangoes should stay out of the refrigerator. Once ripe, a whole mango keeps three to five days in the refrigerator, and letting it sit out briefly before eating brings back flavor that cold dulls.
For fruit from your own tree, harvest at the mature stage, when the shoulders and nose have filled out, then ripen it indoors. Fruit can stay on the tree and be picked as needed, but it may begin to drop as the season goes on. Cut mango freezes for up to six months.
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Planning your first mango harvest
Mallika, Nam Doc Mai, and Carabao ripen early in the season, and Kent follows later, so planting one of each stretches the harvest. Grafted trees take three to five years to bear, which leaves time to learn the ripening routine on store-bought fruit. When the first mangoes arrive, pick at the mature stage and ripen them indoors at room temperature, then compare how sweet each variety turns out.
FAQ
How do you measure how sweet a mango is?
A refractometer measures degrees Brix, which counts dissolved solids in the juice, mostly sugar. One degree Brix equals 1 gram of sucrose per 100 grams of solution.
Does a higher Brix always mean a sweeter mango?
Not always. Acids and pectins also register on a refractometer, and sourness changes how sweet a mango tastes.
Do mangoes get sweeter after they are picked?
Yes, if they were picked mature. Starch converts to sugar during ripening, and a mature mango ripens in three to eight days at 70 to 75°F. Fruit picked too early ripens short on sugar.
Should you refrigerate a mango to keep it sweet?
Only after it is ripe. Chilling unripe fruit can cause injury that shows up once the mango warms, and ripe fruit keeps three to five days in the refrigerator.
Does skin color show whether a mango is ripe?
No. Color varies with the variety and sun exposure. Gentle pressure and a sweet aroma at the stem end are better signs.
References
University of Florida IFAS Extension, "Mango Growing in the Florida Home Landscape,"
https://ask.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/MG216
University of Florida IFAS and National Mango Board, "Mango Cultivar Evaluation – Phase II: Postharvest Performance,"
https://www.mango.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Mango-Cultivar-Evaluation.pdf
National Mango Board, "Mango Quality Attributes and Grade Standards,"
https://www.mango.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Mango_Grade_Standards_Final_Report_Eng.pdf
National Library of Medicine PubMed Central, "Characterization of bioactive and fruit quality compounds of promising mango genotypes grown in Himalayan plain region,"
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10441536/
University of Minnesota Extension, "Mangos,"
https://reallifegoodfood.umn.edu/fruits/mangos
