How to Store Fresh Mangoes at Home? (Ripe & Unripe Mango Storage)

You can store fresh, unripe mangoes by placing them in a clean, dry, and well-ventilated area. You can also store them in paper or cardboard boxes to help speed up ripening while keeping them safely tucked away.

However, a fridge or freezer is the best way to store ripe mangoes for a few days to a few months. Likewise, you can keep ripe and cut mangos for longer this way than unripe mangoes.

To avoid mixing things up, I recommend you continue reading this piece to find out how to store your fresh mangoes properly.

How to Store Fresh Unripe Mangoes at Home

Storing fresh unripe mangoes helps to portion your mango consumption. This is especially true if you’ve bought a lot of mangoes that you’ll like to eat slowly along the way.

It also saves you multiple trips to the grocery store to get fresh mangoes without letting the ones you have on hand go to waste.

So, here are a few tips for storing fresh, unripe mangoes:

• Leave in open air. Most people don’t know this, but you can keep your mangoes in the open air on a kitchen counter, for example. It also slows down the ripening process, so you get about 4-5 extra days before they’re prime for eating.
• Store in a brown paper bag. Storing mangoes in a brown paper bag protects the fruit from externals and ripens it faster. You can use any other bag, but the brown bag is preferred since it doesn’t let in any light and keeps the heat locked in.
• Store in cardboard boxes. You can store your unripe mangoes in cardboard boxes with a newspaper. If you want it to ripen faster, place a banana in the box with the mangoes.

Never store unripe mangoes in the fridge. Doing so messes up their ripening cycle, so they don’t get the right cues to ripen. Left for too long, they may start rotting from the inside without ever getting ripe.

How to Store Fresh Ripe Mangoes at Home?

Fresh ripe mangoes need to be stored appropriately so they don’t become overripe and start rotting from the inside. Here are a few tips for storing them better:

• Store ripe mangoes in the fridge. On average, you can store your ripe mangoes in the refrigerator for up to five days.
• Store ripe mangoes in the freezer. Extend the shelf life of your mangoes by storing them for up to 10 months in a freezer. This is also the best way to store cut mangoes for longer.
• Keep ripe mangoes on the counter. If you’re eating the mangoes in 1-2 days, you can keep them on the kitchen counter to keep ripening (and getting sweeter).

Note that overripe mangoes can be eaten if you don’t have a sensitive stomach and are generally not reactive to mangoes. However, it’s best to eat mangoes when they’re just ripe for the best balance of firmness, taste, and appeal.

Important Considerations When Storing Mangoes at Home

I’ve given an average timeframe for storing ripe and unripe fresh mangoes at home. However, that may differ based on some factors.

Here are some important considerations to keep in mind:

• Never refrigerate unripe mangoes. You’ll pause and mess up the ripening process, which can make the mango useless to you later.
• Know the variety. Some mango varieties can last longer in storage than others. So, take a look and whiff at your stored mangoes from time to time.
• Ambient temperature matters. Mangoes will last longer on shelves/kitchen countertops in colder climates than in hotter regions. After all, the ambient temperature slows down microbial action in the former.
• Don’t use plastic bags. Mangoes need to breathe while they’re ripening. Otherwise, they start rotting from inside for the lack of air and go bad within a few days.

Follow the storage recipe above, and you’ll have good mangoes whenever you want to eat them.