Mangos- The useful fruit.

So I've decided to start a daily trash journal at work. A list of the contents of our daily compost bin. I will then take the contents of this list and research and brainstorm about it's various uses. So I haven't started this yet, but in the meantime I want to blog about one of the frequent members of our compost pile: the mango. I always eye this sexy little fruit first of all, because we use excellent Tommy Atkins mangos here in Honolulu, Hawaii, and they smell--amazing--and they taste--amazing. As soon as they enter the bin, the smell intoxicates me. Beautiful aroma, beautiful orange colored fruits, syrupy sweet, perfectly tart, succulent fruit. It seems an absolute pity to waste even a tiny bit of this fruit. I think I could definitely scrape the mango stones and peels more finely, to produce at least a two person mango dessert of some kind-perhaps a mango lassi, vegan mango lassi , mango chutney
or raw mango soup of some kind. I've also been kicking around the web for ideas on what I could do with the rest of it, as I mourn the disposal of the mango peel and stone as well. Here are the suggestions I've discovered:
Mango peel, with a bit of the mango fruit still attached, makes an excellent face peel. Resplendent in Alpha Hydroxy Acid (AHA) , that many beauty companies tout as a quality ingredient in their goods, the mango fruit left on the peel can be smeared all over the face and left to dry, then peeled or washed off. Just make sure you aren't allergic to mango, by tasting a small amount. If it tickles your tongue, you may be allergic. Mangos contain some of the same compounds found in Poison Ivy, and some people will rash up in reaction to eating it, or coming in close contact with the peel. I feel the tickle on my tongue, but have tried it on small patches of my skin without rashing up. This week I will try the face peel and see how it does on me.
Mango peel is also used in Indian cuisine, to create interesting extra sweetness or tartness in a dish. This recipe from Scrumptious Street is for Thai Eggplant with Lime Chili Chutney and Mango Peels.
Here's another recipe using mango peel from Kate's Global Kitchen, for Corn-Husk Grilled Mango-Skinned Salmon.
Here's an article that mentions the use of mango peel to make a popular Indian soft-drink.
This is a more traditional style indian recipe for Mango Pickle (Karmbi Nonche) from Aayi's recipe's, which by the way, is a site that has lots of interesting indian mango recipes to explore.
I've also heard of a recipe for sauteed prawns and peppers which used the mango skin like one would use a stuffed pepper--as an attractive bowl for the dish.
Finally, a delicious sounding "Chocolate New Wave Mango Cake" from the star online.
From past tastings of my own, I'd have to say that mango peel is very bitter and much more astringent than the delicious mango fruit, yet taste aside, people in india and medical scientists all over the world say that the peel is in fact very nutritious
The Hindu, an online newspaper, says that mangoes might have positive benefits for diabetes heart conditions, and cancer. This may be because the compounds found in mangos (and most abundantly in mango skins) modulate receptor molecules called PPAR's, found in human tissue. PPAR's aid the control of cholesterol and glucose levels in the bloodstream, and are also related to some instances of cancer. Mango skin also contains quercitin, mangiferin, and norathyrion--all three are powerful anti-oxidants. Mango skin more than likely contains resveratrol, also found in the grapes which make red wine, resveratrol helps to lower cholesterol.
Mmm hmm.
So.. what else?
Well, this is an interesting link about some of the medicinal properties of various mango parts.
And, on this other site, I found it especially interesting to hear that ground up dried mango seed works to help stem bleeding and also, when ground into a powder and mixed with buttermilk, it helps with hemorrhoids.
There were four uses I found for the mango seeds we usually discard.


The first was as a medicine for bleeding and piles. The second was to grind the dried seed up into a flour that is commonly sold in India. The third was to expeller press the nut and to harvest the oil to make mango butter, which is healing to the skin, reduces wrinkles, protects from UV light, and has many other, mostly cosmetic uses. Finally, I found these awesome recipes from the Honolulu Star Bulletin on how to make Hawaiian-style mango seeds, and this recipe for mango rasam at ifood.tv
Some interesting things to try, ranging from easy to difficult. My other brainstorms include: carving the seed like some people carve peach pits, wood burning the dried seed and making a clamshell container out of it, drying and salting the peels and using them as containers, growing mangos from the seeds, using the seed as a bird feeder core by pasting birdseed and dough mix on the outside and hanging by a thread, or as a model boat (because it floats naturally), as a fishing bobber, xmas ornament, fish scaler, bolo style noise maker, wind chime, noise maker, an arch support, cementing several together using resin to make them into bedside table configurations or tv trays, using rope and bored holes, wood burnt reversible doll face, 2 candy bowls, door knocker, flute, organic raft (using some kind of organic binder to bind many together on water), acupressure foot path texturizer, bird beak sharpener, or perhaps a mango-scented firestarter.