Mango

The mango (plural mangos) is a tropical fruit of the mango tree. Mangoes belong to the genus Mangifera which consists of about 30 species of tropical fruiting trees in the flowering plant family Anacardiaceae. The exact origins of the mango are unknown but most believe that it is native to Southern and Southeast Asia including the Philippines, Indonesia, India, Burma, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Bangladesh owing to the wide range of genetic diversity in the region and fossil records dating back 25 to 30 million years. Mangos retain a special significance in the culture of South Asia where they have been cultivated for millenia. It has been the national symbol of the Philippines. Reference to mangos as the "food of the gods" can be found in the Hindu Vedas and the leaves are ritually used for floral decorations at Hindu marriages and religious ceremonies. This fruits, too, played an important role for the Egyptians in which they would take the mango peel and smear the gloop on their skin in order to save their skin from the sun, reducing the risk of skin cancer also known as the red infection, while working on the pyramids.