Mango sap: Hidden danger in popular summer fruit

May 2024 · 2 minute read

Mangoes might be an icon of an Australian summer but the tropical fruit picked straight from the tree can harbour a secret danger.

While a shiny trickle on a supermarket mango isn’t a danger, the sap from the fruit tree has the potential to put a fruit picker in hospital.

This is because the sap is highly acidic and contains an oily compound called urushiol – the same substance that’s in poison ivy. The urushiol is released from the stem once the mango is picked from the tree and can pose a threat if it accidentally comes into contact with somebody’s eye.

It can also cause ‘mango rash’ when it comes into contact on the skin – either directly or via contaminated clothing – which can cause itchy rashes, swelling or even burn-like sores. This is why freshly picked mangoes are placed in an antacid solution once picked, so the sap is neutralised

However, for victims of mango burn, it could take a few days for a reaction to the sap to develop.

Writing on his online blog, Canadian-man Stephen Harris suffered mango burns during a fruit picking stint in Queensland, something he estimated that one-in-four fruit pickers experienced.

While at first he began getting “rashy welts” on just his hands, this gradually spread over his entire body.

“It showed up on my hands first. I was swollen but I put up with it. Then it got on my arms,” he wrote.

“We began our job on November 26. It was December 24 before I finally began feeling better again and the rash began to recede … It was four weeks of picking mangoes and rash terror.”

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Operating in the mango-abundant region in the Kimberley, Western Australia, President of the Rural Doctors Association of Western Australia Brittney Wicksteed told ABC she’s seen many cases of mango burn.

“It’s not something we necessarily get taught a great deal about in medical school, but I think any doctor who’s worked up in the Kimberley learns about it in their first week or two,” she said.

“It’s essentially a form of contact dermatosis, it’s quite common for people to have an allergy to the sap itself … if you do get mango sap in your eyes, I’d advise you seek medical treatment right away.”

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