Fresh Mango Warning
This year on Maui we are having a really good mango season. These Haden mangoes are the best... so sweet and juicy.
But beware, some people have a bad reaction to mango sap (allergic contact dermatitis ). The mango skin should be avoided if you are the type who is allergic to poison oak or poison ivy. For some people, coming in contact with the sap will cause an adverse reaction, like blisters or a rash on the mouth and hands. This is caused by a chemical called urushiol, which is found in the oil of mango sap.
Those same people should avoid climbing the mango tree, picking the fruits and pruning branches. The fruits often have residual sap on the outside which is easy to wash off. The fruit itself is fine to eat, but please be aware to avoid the sap.
To learn more about the symptoms, and what to do, here's an article from the Honolulu Advertiser that offers some tips.
For more local info about Maui, be sure to contact your favorite Maui Realtor.
ALOHA and thanks for visiting my blog. EMAIL
Georgina M. Hunter R(S) - (808) 283-0635
I dod not know that.
Thanks for sharing.
Bill
HHHHmmm, I had never heard of that before and we have Mangos everywhere here in SW Florida.
Sean Allen
They haven't found anything wrong with beer yet have they? I can't give up everything.
Bill - glad to help.
Sean Allen - that's interesting. I guess you're not the allergic type. Most people don't get a reaction, but ocassionally some do - years ago my mother in law ate one and picked up the cast off skin to get the remains off with her teeth. the next day she has blisters around her mouth!
John - some beers have formaldehyde in it, but you knew that already
I am glad I do not have a any allergy problems with Mango.
Randy - I hope you're enjoying plenty of these delicious fruits this season.
I love mangoes and I remember well you telling me a mango rash horror story at the beginning of the 2007 Mango season. I had been anxiously anticipating my first local mango and ended up nervously nibbling on that first mango fearing an ensuing rash. Fortunately for me no rash and I have been loving this season. We can thank our drier than usual spring for the abundant crop.
I got a blistering rash years ago, after eating one particular mango. Have stayed away ever since, figured it was the fruit. But sounds like if I wash them well and avoid the skin, I can enjoy a mango again!
Pete - I didn't mean to scare you off - thanks for the mangoes today!
Penny - yes, you can enjoy mangoes again... carefully!
I've never heard of this and that is an amazing fact. But, eating them doesn't have any affect on these people?
Todd I guess not. Just watch out for that pesky sap.
Georgina - You are writing about MY FAVORITE fruit - I once had a home with 6 mango trees - I was heart broken when the new owner cut them all down!!!!!!!!!!!!!
BJ - what a crime! I guess they didn't see the value of the trees and the bounty they produce each year.
Georgina - It broke my heart!!!! The same thing happened in the next house we bought - we lived there for 6 years and put in over a dozen fruit trees. The new owners came from California, cut out all our fruit trees and put in decorative palms - what a shame! The trees were all producing fruit too!!! I just don't understand that mind set!
Sure am glad I have not had any trouble with mangos. I just love them..
Carol - thanks for dropping in to comment.
Just in case you're searching, as I was, to figure out how long you'll be suffering with a blistered mouth from your mango skin encounter, Here's my experience:
3 Days before Day 1: Ate a Mango, including getting the flesh out of the skin with my teeth after lunch. Did not wash face until that night.
Day 1: Noticed a couple little bumps on lips, and thought they were really chapped. Applied regular lip gloss (Carmex) as usual.
Day 2: Woke up with swollen, inflamed, blistery, painful, itchy lips. They looked and felt AWFUL. : Applied vaseline and scoured the internet to figure out what was going on. : Figured out it was a mango allergy, but wasn't sure what to do for it. Stopped applying vaseline because some said it might be bad for poison ivy types of reactions because it keeps blisters from drying out. : Took an Alavert-24 hour to try to help with the allergic reaction : Bought Ivarest Poison Ivy Itch Relief Cream and Benadryl Itch Stopping Cream. : Took an advil and applied the Ivarest at 6pm to my lips and surrounding skin area, and the Benadryl cream that night after washing my face, before bed. -- Incidentally, both are SUPER painful - burning, drying, etc. on your lips.
Day 3: Woke up and lips looked only slightly better - the blisters were drying up a bit from the creams. : Took an advil, and applied Ivarest at 9:30am : Took an Alavert-24 hour to try to help with the allergic reaction : Applied Benadryl cream at 2pm and again at 5:30pm : Applied Ivarest before bed Day 4: Woke up and lips looked better - good enough that I was only somewhat mortified to have to go out of the house that day : While outside the house, I removed the Ivarest/Benadryl and applied Lip Clear Lysine+ (a cold sore treatment) because it also claimed to dry out blisters (albiet of a different kind), is fairly clear, and is safe for use on your mouth (The others probably aren't ideal for use on your mouth) : Applied Ivarest at night
Day 5, 6, 7: Each night I applied Ivarest (again it is SUPER PAINFUL - burning, etc.), and during the day I used Lysine. Each day my lips looked progressively better. : My lips and the area around them were peeling constantly from Days 4-8 - the nasty blistered skin was flaking off. It was gross, but I tried not to mess with it and just let it come off naturally.
Day 8: The last night I used Ivarest
By Day 9, my lips look almost completely better. There were few spots on the skin around my lips that didn't start to get red or inflamed until around Days 4-6, and those are still a bit red, but my lips are pretty much back to normal.
Day 10 and 11, I'm just using regular Burts Bees Honey lip balm, and trying to get my mouth back to it's non-dryed out state. But aside from dry skin around my mouth, everything looks pretty much normal. I don't know if the methods I used were ideal to treat this, but I figured I'd at least pass them along so you'd have the type of info I looked for when I first figured out what was wrong - and an idea of how long your lips would look so gross and be so painful! Hang in there. You'll survive. :)
mangohelp - wow, what a story! I'm glad you found my blog and I hope it offered some help. I guess now you know that you're one of those people who has to be extra careful eating a mango.