On food and cooking the science and lore of the kitchen ( PDFDrive ) 735

orange color comes from carotenoid
pigments, mainly betacarotene. Mangoes are
climacteric fruits that accumulate starch, so
theycanbepickedgreenandwillsweetenand
soften as they ripen, from the seed outwards.
Their flavor is especially complex, and may
be dominated by the compounds that
characterize peaches and coconuts (lactones),
generically fruity esters, medicinal or even
turpentinyterpenes,andcaramelnotes.Green
mangoes are very tart, and are made into
picklesaswellasdriedandgroundtomakean
acidifying powder (Hindiamchur). Mango
pickles were so admired in 18th-century
England that the fruit lent its name to the
preparation and to other suitable materials:
hence“mangopeppers.”
MangosteenThemangosteenisthemediumsized,leathery-skinnedfruitofanAsiantree,
Garciniamangostana.Itswhitefleshconsists
ofthearilsaroundseveralseeds,andismoist


and has a pleasing sweet-tart balance, with a
delicate,fruityandfloweryaroma,something
like a lychee. It’s usually eaten fresh or in
preserves,andisalsocanned.
FoodWords:TropicalFruits
Manyofourwordsfortropicalfruitscome
from the peoples among whom Western
travelers first encountered them.Banana
comes from several West African

languages,mango from south Indian
Tamil,papaya from Carib,durian from
Malay(awordmeaning“thorn”).
PapayaPapayasarespeciesofthegenus
Carica,anativeoftheAmericantropicsthat
lookslikeasmalltreebutisactuallyalarge
herbaceousplant.Thecommonpapaya,C.
papaya,consistsofathickenedovarywall,
orangetoorange-redwithcarotenoid
pigments,andafewdarkseedsinalarge
centralcavity.Itisaclimactericfruitthat
doesn’tstoreanystarch.Ripeningbeginsat