why does the skin need taken off of a mango before you consume it?
In: Biology
The skin of a mango contains urushiol – this is the same substance found in poison oak, poison ivy and poison sumac. It doesn’t have it in the same quantities, especially when the skin has dried out, been washed a lot and so on, but…it’s there. So…when people talk about tingly lips for a few days after eating mango with the skin on, this is the case. People who are very sensitive to this chemical will get full-on skin breakout that last a week or two around areas of exposure (the mouth/lips tend to heal faster, but you can get it on your hands and spread it too). Further, increased exposure generally results in an increasingly severe response (it’s an immune response we get “good at”).
AND…it doesn’t taste very good 🙂
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