**3. Pulp**

Depending on the cultivar, mango pulp constitutes about 40–60% of the total fresh fruit weight, and is the main consumable part of the fruit due to the presence of nutritional and functional compounds [19]. The nutritional compounds and bioactive composition of mango are factors of the cultivar, the agroecological condition of the region, and the maturity of the fruit [20–23]. Sucrose, fructose, and glucose (in decreasing order of their concentration) comprise the principal carbohydrates present in mature and ripe mango. The carbohydrates content of pulp averages about 15 g/100 g, total dietary fiber (pectins, hemicellulose, and celluloses) averages 1.6 g/100 g while the protein content is about 0.8 g/100 g. The pulp also contains important micronutrients, vitamins, and bioactive compounds. The vitamin C of mango pulp ranges between 98 mg to 18 g/kg depending on variety and stage of maturity [23]. The nutritional quality of mangoes is to a great extent contributed by carotenoids, particularly β-carotene at about 4.138 mg/100 g [24]. The Tommy Atkins variety has been reported to contain 0.64 mg β-carotene, 0.009 mg α-carotene, 0.01 mg β-cryptoxanthin and lutein, and 0.023 mg zeaxanthin per 100 g [22,25]. This indicates that there is variation of carotenoids naturally among mangoes as a result of climatic effects, variety differences, stage of maturity at harvesting period, and storage. The ripe mango pulp contains all the B complex vitamins except biotin, ranging from 1.5 to 2.5 mg/100 g of fresh fruit pulp [23,26]. Mango pulp is a good source of many micro- and macro-minerals such as calcium, sodium, copper, iron, phosphorus, manganese, magnesium, zinc, boron (0.6–10.6 mg/kg), and selenium. The pulp is also rich in organic acids including citric acid, malic acid, oxalic acid, succinic acid, ascorbic acid, and tartaric acid, and bioactive compounds such as phenolic acids, sterols, and alkaloids [27,28].

The ability of the mango pulp to retain a wide range of nutrients and bioactive compounds is what makes it an ideal base material in the processing and value addition of various products) [8,22]. The pulp is rich in fiber due to the presence of fruit membrane and hence is more advantageous in comparison to juice concentrate in the processing of products. For storage purposes, the pulp is generally standardized to 14–18◦Brix and 4–6% acidity by the use of either sugar syrup or citric acid, respectively. The sugar-standardized pulp is then pasteurized at 85 ◦C, filled when hot into bulk containers and sealed or heated at 100 ◦C for 20 min, cooled, packaged into bulk containers, and stored at room temperature (~25 ◦C). Addition of ascorbic acid, sorbic acid, sodium metabisulfite, and sodium benzoate into mango pulp helps in color, flavor, and carotene retention, resulting in a much longer shelf life. Both sodium metabisulfite and sodium benzoate have antimicrobial effects, but metabisulfite is more effective. However, minimal negative effects have been reported on the sensory characteristics of juices prepared from mango pulp preserved by metabisulfite and benzoate.

Mango pulp serves as the base for the processing of a variety of mango products including the following.

#### *3.1. Mango Juice*

Mango pulp can be mixed with a specific ratio of water to produce mango juice of a final TSS ranging between 12 and 15% of ◦Brix and 0.4 and 0.5% acidity [8,29,30]. The mango juice can be used as a single strength juice or blended with other fruit juices as juice blends or incorporated in fruit smoothies/shakes.

#### *3.2. Mango Juice Concentrate*

Mango juice concentrate is processed from mango juice or pulp as the base material. When the concentrate is derived from pulp, the pulp is subjected to polygalacturonase, pectinase, or cellulase enzymes to break down the pectins and cellulose. The juice concentrate has a sugar content of between 28 and 60% of ◦Brix) [8,30].
