Eating an unripe mango is excellent for the unconventional taste of the fruit, better firmness, richness in vitamin C, higher fiber content, and a series of health benefits.
However, it’s not advised to drink cold water after eating unripe mango or eating more than one unripe mango daily.
In the rest of this guide, I discuss everything you need to know about eating unripe mangoes, when you should never eat them, and precautions to take.
So, let’s discuss! For more information.
What Are the Benefits of Eating Unripe Mangoes?
Unripe mangoes promote better gut health & bowel movement, can help detoxify your liver faster, and poses many other benefits.
I’ve summarized some of the many benefits of eating unripe mangoes below.
Improved Bowel Movement
Unripe mangoes contain more fiber than their riper counterparts since the mangoes are still firm. Adding that bulk fiber to your meal also promotes better gut health and simulates better bowel movement.
This is especially great if you have low bowel movements and want to speed things up naturally.
Still, note that some mango varieties contain more fiber than others. So, it’s best to choose an unripe Keitt mango over an unripe honey mango in this case.
Get Higher Vitamin C
While mangoes get sweeter as they ripen, it’s surprising that unripe mangoes have a higher concentration of vitamin C than the riper ones. Thus, they’re a great source of vitamins if you’re looking to up your daily supply from natural sources.
Fun Fact: One unripe Langra mango is as rich in Vitamin C as 35 ripe apples!
Improve gastrointestinal system
Unripe mangoes are often combined with salt or honey to treat diarrhea, pile, dysentery, and other GI-related illnesses in India. Because India is the largest producer and consumer of mangoes globally, it makes sense to believe that they know what they’re doing with the fruit.
Cleanse the Liver
The acid content in unripe mango is higher than what you get from ripe mangoes, helping balance body pH and stimulating bile secretion. Also, it aids the liver in blood purification and can even be used to soothe stomach aches and jaundice cases.
Get Less Mess
Unripe mangoes are firmer and less juicy, so they don’t make a mess when eating. This also makes these mangoes great to bite into when you don’t have a knife, or you prefer to eat your mangoes that way.
What Are the Disadvantages of Eating Unripe Mango?
You can get a stomach ache from eating too many unripe mangoes, get a spike in blood sugar levels, or have throat irritation if you drink cold water immediately after.
Here’s an overview of all the disadvantages that you should consider before eating unripe mangoes:
Stomach upsets. Unripe mangoes will cause stomach upsets if you overeat them or pick them when they’re too unripe to be eaten.
Stomach irritation. Ideally, one unripe mango a day is the way to go.
Throat irritation. Some people (like me) have a sensitive throat to some fruits. However, it won’t get triggered if you don’t eat too many unripe mangoes or drink cold water immediately after eating one.
Indigestion. Again, this will only happen if you eat more than one unripe mango daily. Or, if you choose a mango that’s far off from ripe, rather than one that’s just about to ripen.
What Does an Unripe Mango Taste Like?
Unripe mangoes taste like a starchy, slightly less sweet, and firmer version of the ripe mango variety. Thus, it may make you feel thirstier and get more fiber in your teeth.
Moreover, unripe mangoes usually have a characteristically-satisfying sour taste the first time you bite into them.
I can’t fully explain that tangy taste, but I’ve come to like it with time. In fact, I’m usually disappointed when I don’t choose an unripe mango well enough to give me that taste.
Can You Eat Small Green Mangoes?
Small, green mangoes should NEVER be eaten as they’ve not formed enough to qualify as edible unripe mango. Likewise, they should not be plucked off the tree at this point since they won’t grow bigger or ripen away from the tree.
If you eat unripe mangoes, choose only those that are big enough to maturity sizes and are only waiting to change colors to the ripened cues.
Is Green Mango Just Unripe Mango?
Green mangoes are not always unripe, depending on the variety of the mango. Some mango varieties like the Keitt mango ripen while remaining green. However, when fully ripe, others like the Ataulfo mango change entirely into another shade of golden yellow.
Is Unripe Mango High in Sugar?
Unripe mangoes have a healthy concentration of natural sugars but contain less sugar than ripe ones. Thus, ripe mangoes are sweeter and can increase the chances of sugar levels spikes.
This is also an advantage of eating unripe mangoes over overripe mangoes, which are at their sweetest and contain the highest levels of comparable natural sugars.
Still, eating moderate quantities of ripe and overripe mangoes are healthy and won’t cause a sugar spike.
