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Hawaii – A Mango Lover’s Paradise!

Hawaiian MangoesAnyone who has ever had the pleasure of visiting Hawaii knows first-hand how incredible the fruit from our local farmers can be. There is just something about our tropical climate that produces the best tasting fruit you’ll find in the country. Thanks to the weather, Hawaii has been blessed with a growing season that lasts all year long and as a result, we’ve got strawberries, melons, pineapples, oranges, papayas and mangos that are second-to-none.

The latter is perhaps the best of the bunch! Not only do Hawaiian mangos taste better, they also come with some pretty fascinating facts. Baskin-Robbins may have 31 flavors of ice cream, but here in Hawaii we’ve got 63 different types of mangos! The two most common are the Haden and Pirie varieties. In fact, the Haden accounts for more than 90% of all commercially grown mangos on the islands.

Though mangos have been around in some parts of the world for more than 4000 years, they are still relative newcomers to Hawaii. Thought to have come to the islands from Mexico in the 1800’s, mango trees are far from unassuming and definitely hard to miss. They range in height from 30 – 100 feet, and some can be as wide as 125 feet with roots reaching as far down as 20 feet. While they may be strong and mighty, they can become fickle as they start to mature. A mango tree will bear fruit each year while it is young but after 10 years or so, it will start to bear fruit on a biennial basis. Oddly enough though, a mango tree will often seem to be in conflict with itself and it is not uncommon for one side to bear fruit while the other takes a break and holds off until the next season. These rest periods could be responsible for their longevity. Believe it or not, there are mango trees in Asia that have been bearing fruit for more than 300 years!

Sweet, juicy and delicious, mangos are good for you too.  High in Beta-Carotene, mangos are an excellent source of vitamin A which provides a boost to the immune system and helps to prevent damage to the structure of your cells.

So now that you know a bit about the history of our mangos, don’t you think it’s time to book a Hawaii vacation so that you can come and taste them too?