How To Ripen Mangoes

Use A Paper Bag Or A Newspaper
Place the mangoes in a paper bag or wrap it with a newspaper and leave it undisturbed for the night in order for it to release some ethylene, which is an odourless gas that speeds up the ripening process. Remove the mangoes from the bag once they start giving off a fruity smell and softened.

^{Place the mangoes in a paper bag or wrap it with a newspaper and leave it undisturbed}

Alternatively, you can also add bananas and apples to the bag as they also emit ethylene, which fastens the ripening process even more.

Use A Bowl Of Uncooked Rice
Submerge the mangoes in a bowl of uncooked rice for a night for it to emit ethylene, which as we now know helps in ripening the mangoes faster. Check the mangoes after every 6 to 8 hours, your mangoes will ripen in a day or two.

^{Brown rice can interfere with the absorption of certain minerals in the body}
Photo Credit: iStock

You Need Time And Patience
One of the oldest Indian household methods of ripening mangoes. You need to just leave your mango on the kitchen shelf at room temperature for several days. This is no doubt the most time-consuming method but gives the best results.

How To Determine Your Mango’s Ripeness?

• Smell your mangoes from the stem end, if it’s heavy and smells fruity and basically has achieved the desired goal of the mango you want, then it is ripe.
• Squeeze the mango a bit, if it’s soft, then it’s done but if it’s not then it is still unripe.
• Colour doesn’t actually determine the difference between a good and a bad mango. Black spots on the mango can actually turn out to be better because usually if there are small black spots, then it means that the mango is sweet because these spots are quite soft on touching. But, if the mango is blacker than the usual, then you should just cut it open to make sure it’s not a spoiled piece.

Store The Mangoes

Place the mangoes in the refrigerator after it is ripe. Keeping the mangoes in the refrigerator when it’s ripe slows down the ripening process. You can keep a whole ripe mango in the refrigerator for 5 days.

Caution: Never keep an unripen mango in the refrigerator as refrigeration of mango slows down the ripening process tremendously.