Schrodinger's Mango Pit

[Timsup2nothin]

I've recently taken to eating fresh mangos. For those who don't know, and since is critical to the discussion, the next paragraph is a detailed description of a mango. If you are familiar you might skip to the following paragraph.

A mango is shaped sort of like an American football, or a rugby ball; basically an elongated sphere. It has a thin skin, sort of like a nectarine, in other words like a peach but not fuzzy. The meat is also the same consistency as a peach. I don't think you are supposed to eat the skin, though it suddenly occurs to me that maybe I should try it. Inside, there is a seed. It's oval, but pretty flat. In the plane that it is not flat it is pretty big. Not like the edge almost reaches the skin, but a lot bigger than it is in the flattened direction.

I've tried a couple different ways to peel and eat these things, both of which were messy and more or less a pain in the butt...though worth it. It seems pretty clear, in both methods, that if I happened to start out on the side of the mango where the flat of the pit is it would be easier. The first time (which was my first encounter with a mango pit) I actually though "wow, if I had x-rayed this thing I'd have done that a lot differently" because finding out that the pit wasn't sort of shaped like a peach pit surprised me. So Schrodinger comes in because as near as I can tell there is no way to judge the orientation of the pit until you are carving away at the mango.

And here's the odd thing. After finding out the first time that it does make a difference, and thinking it was serious bad luck that I was almost exactly 90 degrees off the ideal I shrugged and went my way. But four more mangos later, for a total of five, I have yet to hit anywhere close to ideal. In fact I have yet to be more than a few degrees off from the worst possible angle of approach. The improbability of this is starting to bother me.

Is there some external cue that reveals the orientation of the pit that I am picking up subconsciously? Or is the mango extracting revenge for being eaten by collapsing an uncertain probability matrix in the least favorable way just to spite me? Or is five just too small a sample size to attach this much significance?

If someone says "oh, I eat mangos all the time and always run into the flat side of the pit, but I don't know how" I will really wonder how they appeased the mango god that I apparently irritated.

 

[Birdjaguar]

I love mangoes!! First the skin is not so tasty and can cause allergies. The juicy/slimy/fibrous/bright orange flesh is wonderful, if messy to eat. I slice through the skin top to bottom (long ways) with a knife and peel back sections of the skin like a banana. Then I slice off big sections to eat. My knife works out the placement of the stone: it is revealed as I cut. Kinda of like opening a present.

 

[Timsup2nothin]

I love mangoes!! First the skin is not so tasty and can cause allergies. The juicy/slimy/fibrous/bright orange flesh is wonderful, if messy to eat. I slice through the skin top to bottom (long ways) with a knife and peel back sections of the skin like a banana. Then I slice off big sections to eat. My knife works out the placement of the stone: it is revealed as I cut. Kinda of like opening a present.

That became the preferred of my two methods, but I start by basically peeling half of it. I keep thinking I could get lucky and eat the half that is peeled and reveal the flat stone sort of lying there on the unpeeled half...but I end up with the pit rising like a fin from the remaining half...every time!

 

[TheDuckOfFlanders]

When it comes to strenght of materials, genneraly tension is force devided per surface, the more surface the less tension working there gennerally for the same force.
Materials however of various nature are not always isotropic in terms of strenght, meaning as strong in every direction. Certain materials in nature are anisotropic, for the same thickness they are still easier to break in one direction than the other. Wood is a classical example of this.

So this is a possibilety i guess, the material makeup of the shell being anisotropic.

 

[Timsup2nothin]

When it comes to strenght of materials, genneraly tension is force devided per surface, the more surface the less tension working there gennerally for the same force.
Materials however of various nature are not always isotropic in terms of strenght, meaning as strong in every direction. Certain materials in nature are anisotropic, for the same thickness they are still easier to break in one direction than the other. Wood is a classical example of this.

So this is a possibilety i guess, the material makeup of the shell being anisotropic.

This is an interesting angle. It would be something to really pursue if the shell were being broken, leading to discovery of preferred line of fracture. But the skin is soft and the knife is sharp. It seems to cut similarly in all directions.

 

[Snerk]

The mangoes we get here are always slightly narrower on the flat sides of the pit so it's pretty easy to get the initial knife slice at an optimal angle.

Mangoes are lovely indeed. But I'd love to eat one right off the tree instead of the ones left to ripen in boxes as they're shipped loads of km. Bet they taste a lot better then.

 

[Timsup2nothin]

Snerk, you're a genius...or perhaps I am just not observant. There IS a very slight out of roundness of the mango in my refrigerator. I also noticed that without any conscious attention the slight out of round DOES tend to make it lie more comfortably in my hand in exactly the wrong way. I believe you have resolved the issue...though until I cut into that mango I won't say for sure.

 

[Zkribbler]

My Filipina cook says mango skins can only be eaten when the mango is very young, and then only with salt because the skin will be "sour" [by which she probably means "bitter"].

 

[Camikaze]

What the hell kind of mangoes are you eating that a) the skin is like a nectarine, and b) you can't determine the orientation of the stone? The only correct way to eat a mango is to carve the two cheeks off, cross-hatch your cuts and invert them, then unwrap the ring of skin around the middle portion and suck on the stone.

Spoiler :

 

[TheDuckOfFlanders]

Why the name Schrodinger in the thread title? i know few of his work, is there a reference i'm missing?

 

[Timsup2nothin]

What the hell kind of mangoes are you eating that a) the skin is like a nectarine, and b) you can't determine the orientation of the stone? The only correct way to eat a mango is to carve the two cheeks off, cross-hatch your cuts and invert them, then unwrap the ring of skin around the middle portion and suck on the stone.

Yikes!

Okay, so assuming Snerk has gotten across a way to identify the orientation of the stone I can follow "carve the two cheeks off." And yeah, that leaves an easy to understand ring of skin on the pit and close flesh so that part makes sense. What is "crosshatch your cuts"?

How would you describe the skin, by the way? It's clearly not like an apple, and obviously citrus is out. Definitely thicker than a plum. I thought a nectarine was as close as I could get.

 

[Timsup2nothin]

Why the name Schrodinger in the thread title? i know few of his work, is there a reference i'm missing?

The idea that the orientation of the stone cannot be determined without cutting it open, so the orientation of the stone may not be fixed...just like Shrodinger's famous cat in the box is neither dead nor alive.

 

[Camikaze]

Leathery. It's much thicker than a nectarine skin, and inedible. It can feel somewhat similar to a nectarine, though mango tends to weep a little, so the skin can be sticky.

BTW, to identify the orientation of the stone, you can see that there is a perceptible indented line going from the top to the bottom on the thin sides. This aligns with the edge of the stone, and indicates the plane of the stone.

I looked for a video to describe this process and found this one:

Link to video.

Those mangoes definitely look different to the mangoes we get here, just in colour (and the mangoes in the video are a bit smaller). The mangoes we get are pretty uniformly orange (like the image posted above). There's greenness before they're ripe and redness when they're overripe, but you wouldn't eat them when they're some weird mix of green and red.

As seen in the video, the difficult is not so much in determining the orientation of the stone, but in determining the width of the stone; in cutting the cheeks off you can easily cut too close to the stone.

 

[Timsup2nothin]

Egads! That looks AWESOME!

I am not the least bit hungry, but I am seriously thinking this mango is about to get carved.

 

[FriendlyFire]

My Filipina cook says mango skins can only be eaten when the mango is very young, and then only with salt because the skin will be "sour" [by which she probably means "bitter"].

Green mangoes are nice for salads
You want to eat the Mangoes with thin skin when its ripe. It has beneficial properties but also a mild toxin.

3. Mango Skin

Strange as it may sound, in some parts of the world eating a mango with its skin on is the norm. Perhaps those cultures know that the mango skin contains a significant amount of antioxidants and healthful compounds that are only found in small amounts in the mango pulp. Mangiferin is a phytochemical found in large amounts in the skin. A powerful antioxidant, mangiferin has been found to have anti-inflammatory and anti-tumor properties in numerous research studies. Mangiferin may be especially effective as a protectant against skin cancer and this UV-protectant ability is valued in the cosmetics industry.

Mangoes can be eaten raw with their skin on, though some people may not like the texture or find the taste to be bitter. If you find that to be the case, cut up the mango with its skin and blend in a high powered blender, mixing with other fruits and vegetables. Choose some of the thinner skinned varieties and make sure the fruit is ripe, as that is when the skin is at its thinnest. Like the watermelon rind, mango skin can be pickled. Mango skin can also be sun or oven dried to make a crunchy chip.

While mango skin is edible, please note that it can cause an allergic reaction in some people. Known as “mango itch” in Hawaii, the sap of the mango tree and mango skin contain urushiol, the same compound responsible for the itchy skin rash seen in poison ivy and poison oak. People who are sensitive to poison ivy and oak may also be sensitive to the urushiol in mangoes and should avoid eating the skin.

 

[TheDuckOfFlanders]

The idea that the orientation of the stone cannot be determined without cutting it open, so the orientation of the stone may not be fixed...just like Shrodinger's famous cat in the box is neither dead nor alive.

Indeed, i did a bit of my own research. And so i learned something new again. No quantum state to pits though, but that be nitpicking.

 

[Zkribbler]

Why the name Schrodinger in the thread title? i know few of his work, is there a reference i'm missing?

Schrodinger's cat has choked on a mango pit. She's been rushed to the vet, but as of now, we don't know if she's dead or alive.

 

[yung.carl.jung]

These are the mangoes that are available all over Europe, probably the United States, Canada and Australia as well. They taste good.

These are the mangoes that are available in all of southeast Asia. They have a very distict, more sour, more sweet, much more intense taste. It's like night and day. A mango like this will arouse you on every level imagineable, it's a transcendental experience.

I like eating them very ripe, in unsweetened yoghurt, with some fresh mint leaves added. If you've never had these, you're completely missing out.

This is mangosteen. Not a mango at all, but still extremely delicious. The Thai call it "godess of fruits".

 

[civvver]

Leathery. It's much thicker than a nectarine skin, and inedible. It can feel somewhat similar to a nectarine, though mango tends to weep a little, so the skin can be sticky.

BTW, to identify the orientation of the stone, you can see that there is a perceptible indented line going from the top to the bottom on the thin sides. This aligns with the edge of the stone, and indicates the plane of the stone.

I looked for a video to describe this process and found this one:

Link to video.

Those mangoes definitely look different to the mangoes we get here, just in colour (and the mangoes in the video are a bit smaller). The mangoes we get are pretty uniformly orange (like the image posted above). There's greenness before they're ripe and redness when they're overripe, but you wouldn't eat them when they're some weird mix of green and red.

As seen in the video, the difficult is not so much in determining the orientation of the stone, but in determining the width of the stone; in cutting the cheeks off you can easily cut too close to the stone.

Yes that is how I cut them as well. You cut them in "half" basically, really just slice half off as close to the pit as you can, then you criss cross cut the flesh and pop the skin inside out so you get nice little chunks exposed, they you can bite them off or cut them off easily. I used to peel them and cut the flesh off but this method is much more efficient. Really the only thing that bugs me about mangoes is I feel like I'm wasting a lot of the fruit cus the pit is so large but if you actually check around the pit you'll find it's not much fruit at all, it only appears that way.

I actually don't like mangoes. They're ok, just not a great flavor. I dislike cantaloupe as well and they taste similar to me. But my family loves them so I cut them a lot.

I'm not a huge fruit person, too sweet for me and I prefer veggies, but berries and apples are my favorites and I love lemon and lime flavors though I wouldn't eat them plain.

 

[Birdjaguar]

Leathery. It's much thicker than a nectarine skin, and inedible. It can feel somewhat similar to a nectarine, though mango tends to weep a little, so the skin can be sticky.

BTW, to identify the orientation of the stone, you can see that there is a perceptible indented line going from the top to the bottom on the thin sides. This aligns with the edge of the stone, and indicates the plane of the stone.

I looked for a video to describe this process and found this one:

Link to video.

Those mangoes definitely look different to the mangoes we get here, just in colour (and the mangoes in the video are a bit smaller). The mangoes we get are pretty uniformly orange (like the image posted above). There's greenness before they're ripe and redness when they're overripe, but you wouldn't eat them when they're some weird mix of green and red.

As seen in the video, the difficult is not so much in determining the orientation of the stone, but in determining the width of the stone; in cutting the cheeks off you can easily cut too close to the stone.

Awesome video. I'll try that slice and dice next time!

Green mangoes are nice for salads
You want to eat the Mangoes with thin skin when its ripe. It has beneficial properties but also a mild toxin.

My mother is allergic to the skin and suffers from "the itch" when she eats the skin.