There are several kinds of mangoes in the world. But there is one unique kind of mango that captured the hearts of many people. And that is the highly proclaimed sweetest mango in the world by the Guinness Book of World Records, the Carabao Mango.
The Carabao Mango is found in the Philippines and named by the Philippine Government as the Mala Super Mango because of its incredible health benefits. The Carabao mango is an even more slender-looking mango compared to other mangoes found. Its flesh is green when raw but can turn yellow-green when ripe and softer, making it almost impossible to peel using a knife.
An Overview of the Carabao Mango
Foreign travelers to the Philippines will often remember the Carabao Mango when asked what they enjoyed the most in this country and what keeps pulling them back there.
The fruit’s popularity in this country is tremendous; you’ll often find it slightly overpriced at many of the fruit stands precisely because locals know how mesmerizing they are to visitors. The Carabao Mango is the country’s central agricultural pillar and a source of immense pride. The Philippines rank sixth among the world’s top mango producers after China, Pakistan, Brazil, Mexico, and India. The mango sector in the Philippines offers mango in many shapes and forms: frozen mangoes, fried mangoes, mango concentrates, mango juice, mango puree, mango in brine, and mango preserves.
Apart from the Carabao Mango, you can also expect to find two other essential mango varieties: the Pico mango and the Katchamita mango. However, each has its characteristics, so you can easily distinguish them. Regarding the Carabao Mango itself, it’s important to note there are 14 different strains of mango. The Sweet Elena of Zambales is the sweetest strain of Carabao mango.
The Carabao Mango is typically sweet and is quite renowned for this famous, delicious taste. Although Filipinos typically eat raw and ripe mangoes, it doesn’t matter since they derive pleasure from both versions.
What’s In the Carabao Mango?
It’s easy to get seduced by the Carabao Mango, and this fruit’s only benefit is its exotic appearance and aroma. However, this couldn’t be farther from the truth since the Carabao Mango is also packed with vitamins, minerals, and nutrients that support the well-being of your immune system and actively protect your body from specific ailments and health conditions.
So let’s see what makes this fruit great by looking closer at a Carabao Mango’s nutritional value. So for a serving of 0.75 cups of about 140g of fruit, you can expect to benefit from the following:
- 40 mg of sodium – Sodium is essential to the human body since it regulates the electrolyte levels, which control how energy is distributed throughout. Sodium is essential to athletes who push themselves physically beyond their limits. However, it’s a tricky balance to reach when it comes to daily intake. It all depends on how much energy you need throughout your day.
- 170 mg of potassium – This is an essential mineral in the human body since it helps regulate fluid levels and it ensures proper functioning of muscle contraction and nerve signals.
- 2g of fiber – If your diet is high in fiber, you can rest assured your blood sugar levels will go down, as well as those of your bad cholesterol. Additionally, fiber is also an excellent factor in promoting smooth gastrointestinal processes. Your bowel movements will run more smoothly, and you will be relieved from constipation when on a fiber-rich diet. Fiber also gives your body an incredible feeling of satiety, so you won’t need to scour for unhealthy snacks anymore.
- 350% of the Daily Recommended Value of vitamin A – This is the most critical vitamin in the body to protect your eye health. This vitamin is also great in preventing age-related macular diseases, which means you can count on your excellent eyesight for years when benefitting from a vitamin A-rich diet.
- 6% of the DRV of vitamin C – When it comes to the health of your body tissues, it’s important to note the considerable role that vitamin C plays in it. This is because it’s responsible for maintaining and repairing all tissues in the body. This vitamin also stands behind the production of collagen in the body while also playing a pivotal role in healing whatever wounds you may have. A good intake of vitamin C also backs up the proper functioning of bones and cartilage.
- 5% of the DRV of iron – When you have plenty of iron intake, you can rest assured that your energy levels are correctly optimized. This mineral also smooths over the gastrointestinal processes. When you lack iron in the body, a condition called anemia, you will most likely feel fatigued and have shortness of breath, weakness, chest pain, and brittle nails.
- 22g of carbohydrates – Carbohydrates are the body’s primary energy source, so the carbohydrates contained in the Carabao Mango are also welcome to the human body. Eating this fruit will leave you feeling refreshed and invigorating regardless of when you choose to eat it.
Like other mangoes, the Carabao Mango contains essential nutrients like calcium, potassium, amino acids, and magnesium. These nutrients help relax muscles when stressed out and lower the risk of developing cancer and other diseases. In addition, several studies reveal that mangoes have three times more vitamin C than a piece of orange or apple.
Having seen how richly packed the Carabao Mango is when it comes to nutrients, it’s safe to say that it’s an ideal aid in preventing and fighting off several essential ailments and health conditions:
- Prevents natural aging: Due to the high vitamin C content, the Carabao Mango automatically becomes one of nature’s best-kept secrets in terms of the antioxidants they contain. Antioxidants are crucial to the youth and well-being of the human body since they actively and successfully fight free radicals that accelerate the natural cellular aging process. These compounds are brought on by harmful activities and settings such as pollution, smoking, and drinking alcohol.
- Helps athletes in their endeavors: This fruit contains magnesium, which helps relax the muscles – a crucial quality for athletes. Potassium also helps regulate nerve signals and muscle contraction, which is extremely useful while exercising. Fluid levels will also be maintained at optimum numbers when eating enough carabao mango.
- Helps improve brain function and regulate moods: These minerals help stimulate better nerve signaling, which keeps your brain more alert, aware and coordinated. Apart from this, magnesium also helps regulate moods, being an excellent aid in staving off symptoms of anxiety and depression.
- Helps maintain good eye health: The vitamin A the Carabao Mango contains will help you maintain good eyesight even in your later years if you regularly eat this fruit.
- Helps maintain digestion: The fiber content of the Carabao Mango ensures smooth digestion and will prevent constipation. Your bowel movements will run more smoothly, and you won’t need to snack anymore due to the feeling of satiety it brings to the table.
As you can see, the Carabao Mango is more than just a typical exotic fruit with an alluring aspect and enrapturing taste. It’s incredibly healthy and explains why so many Filipinos regularly turn to this fruit daily. It helps their energy levels stay up, invigorates and hydrates them, keeps them young, and helps their bodies prevent certain unpleasant health conditions. What’s not to love about the Carabao Mango? It’s no wonder so many countries are trying to sell versions of this fruit at sometimes unfair prices underhandedly.
Storing Your Carabao Mango
It would be a shame to get your Carabao Mangoes only to have them ripen too quickly or, even worse, never ripen enough to be enjoyable. This is why it’s essential to know how to properly store your mangoes so you can get the best out of them. In this respect, they are pretty similar to regular mangos, and the Carabao mango storing requirements don’t differ much:
- If your Carabao mangoes are still relatively raw, you can quickly leave them on the counter for a couple more days. You’ll watch them ripen under your very eyes and become sweeter and softer. If you want to speed up this process, leave your Carabao mango in a paper bag.
- If your Carabao mangoes still need to be ripe, don’t put them in the refrigerator. Being subjected to low temperatures will halt their ripening process.
- You should place your Carabao mangoes in the fridge only if they are already ripe and you need to slow down this process. If they are whole, they will still be fresh and ready to be eaten for up to another five when kept in the refrigerator.
- If you’ve already cut your mangoes, you can place the chunks or cubes in an airtight container inside the refrigerator, giving them extra days of freshness.
- You can also store them cut as they are in the freezer. This way, they will last much longer – for up to six months, enabling you to enjoy their delicious aroma at a much later date.
- The Carabao Mango is also an excellent fruit to dry up and eat as a healthy and delicious snack. Be sure to follow all the steps in the mango drying process to avoid having any unnecessary moisture retained, which will ultimately spoil the result.
Using the Carabao Mango
The Carabao Mango is delicious and exotic, while its soft texture makes it alluring and easy to include in a regular diet. Filipinos tend to eat the Carabao Mango, both raw and ripe, and, as a rule, this fruit is primarily enjoyed in its raw form as a delicious and healthy snack.
However, it’s a versatile fruit that has found its way into our lives in many shapes and forms. Having said this, it’s important to remember that you can:
Juice it – The Carabao Mango makes for an excellent drink on those hot summer days. Due to its soft texture, this fruit can easily be juiced in your home and enjoyed as a refreshing drink.
Include it in your breakfast – Cut your Carabao Mango up and mix it up with your morning Greek yogurt. Then, add any other fruits that suit your liking and get a great kick-start to your day.
Include it in a smoothie – Mangoes make excellent ingredients in smoothies. Add whatever other fruits you like the most and obtain a smoothie that will tickle your palate and leave you feeling satiated on any given day.
Dry it up – Dry your mango up and nibble on it for months to come whenever you need to indulge in a healthy and delicious dessert.
Get creative and include it in various dishes – Just as regular mangoes, Carabao Mangoes can go a long way when included in desserts and other dishes. You can include them in salads, chutneys, relishes, curries, delights, and many other dishes. Check out the mango recipes available and choose the one that best fits your taste. Of course, you’ll need to replace regular mangoes with delicious Carabao Mangoes that bring extra zest and flavor.
The Carabao Mango is also meant for export turning them into fruit nectars. But the most famous and top export made from Carabao Mango is the dried mangoes. It is made into a tasty dried fruit healthy snack for everyone.
Moreover, the Carabao Mango can be eaten raw or ripe. You can peel the flesh off quickly if it’s still raw. But when it’s ripe, you cut the mango into three slices horizontally. Both can be made into a juice drink or a fruit shake.
As you can see, Carabao Mangoes are so much more than generic exotic fruits, and it’s clear to see how they’ve become the agricultural staple of the Philippines. They are soft, delicious, easy to use, and store.
Apart from this, and perhaps the most critical factor, they are incredibly healthy antioxidant fruits. They are packed with vitamins and minerals essential to the human body, giving it the sustenance it needs to maintain optimal energy levels, a sturdy immune system, and fight off unwanted health conditions.
It’s no wonder many other countries are trying to inadvertently sell this fruit or lackluster variations at unreasonable prices. The Carabao Mango has gotten under everyone’s skin, and if you’ve already traveled to the Philippines and tried it yourself, you probably know this feeling. In many ways, it’s easily distinguishable and superior to the regular mango we’re all used to – the flavor is more robust, leaving a powerful mark on the memory. What’s your experience with the Carabao Mango? Have you found new ways to enjoy this exquisite natural wonder? Please let us know in the comments, so others can discover everything this fruit has to offer the world.