Mangoes are considered to be the fruits of heaven. People of every age are head over heels for this fruit and they have every rhyme and reason to do so. It’s perhaps the only fruit that has inspired an array of delicacies, even the raw mangoes are used in pickles or functional drinks. It’s highly unfair that the king of fruits is only available during the summers. More so, the Alphonso mangoes even have a shorter span as the Devgad Alphonso mangoes are available only from April to mid of May month. Hence, there’s a need to store Alphonso mangoes for a longer period of time. Some people also buy raw mangoes in order to save costs before the Alphonso mangoes hit the market.

Here, we will take a  look at how one can ripen and store Alphonso mangoes?

1. Storing at room temperature: Keep unripe mangos at room temperature. Mangos shouldn’t be refrigerated before they are ripe. Once you keep the Alphonso mangoes in the refrigerator, they start to lose their moisture because they’re summer fruits. Hence, it is not appropriate for colder climatic conditions. If stored in the refrigerator, Alphonso mangoes lose not only their moisture but also their excellent heavenly taste. Mangos will continue to ripen at room temperature, becoming sweeter and softer over several days.

2. Taking the traditional route: The easy way to ripen Alphonso mangoes other than grass haystack is to keep the Mango in a bowl or jar of uncooked wheat, rice, corn, bajari, millets. Wherein you need to hide Mango with this grain in a pot or pan. This traditional process traps the ethylene gas around the Mango produced by fruit, which helps it ripen faster than in a grass haystack.

   
   

3. Storing in paper bags: Place the Alphonso mangoes in a paper bag or wrap them with a newspaper and leave it overnight in order for it to release some ethylene, this will speed up the ripening process. Remove the mangoes from the bag once they become soft and start giving off a fruity smell.

   

4. Cut your mangoes into cubes or slices for storage purposes: Mangoes stored for off-season enjoyment should be cut into little pieces so they can be thoroughly frozen. The pieces should be small enough that you can keep them in a Ziploc bag. Most people peel the skin off of mangoes when freezing, but this is not strictly necessary.

5. Preserving the mangoes in liquid form: Take firm yet ripe mangoes. Peel and chop them, blitz them in a food processor with sugar. Let it cool at room temperature, then transfer to airtight containers. Sugar acts as a preservative and allows you to scoop out the required portion once it is frozen.

Farm fresh Alphonso mangoes are a blessing in summers but, there’s no set rule that they can only be consumed during the summers.  These are some of the ways to store mangoes for a long time. With a little bit of work, you can preserve the organic Alphonso mangoes for up to 6 months and can indulge yourself in some heavenly taste of the king of fruits.

Stay tuned to Aamwalla for more such tricks.