The Mango of the Future Could Be Blue

Noris Ledesma considers herself a mango Cupid. But unlike the mischievous Roman god, Ledesma’s intentions are pure: unite the perfect combination of trees to create a mango that’s delicious, commercially viable — and blue. 

“Mangoes are becoming the most beloved fruit,” Ledesma said. “A blue mango would solve a lot of their problems.”

When it comes to mango problems, Ledesma is well versed. A PhD in agricultural economics, she spent two decades as the curator of tropical fruit for Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden in Miami. In 2024, she founded For the Love of Mangos, a company through which Ledesma consults with mango farmers around the world.  

In a lifetime of mango studies, one species has stuck with her: the near-extinct Casturi mango, also known as the blue mango, native to the jungles of Malaysia and Borneo. Its dark fruits look like elongated plums. They’re smaller than most mangoes and taste of passion fruit and lychee. The deep blue-purple color of the Casturi is limited to its thick, waxy skin, which protects it from the region’s torrential rains. Its interior is the same sunny orange-yellow as typical mangoes.

While many experts view the Casturi as an outlier, a bluebird in a flock of yellows and greens, Ledesma sees in it tremendous potential. 

“The dark color, it won’t show the imperfections of nature,” she said. “People want them perfect.”

Mango growers go to great lengths to ensure flawlessness in their fruits. The biggest problem is the mangoes themselves. Mango stems release a resiny sap when plucked from trees. The sap can cause a rash in humans. In mangoes, it leaves dark, sticky streaks along the skin. Farmers try to counteract this by applying alkaline powders and washes that dissolve the sap, processes that take time and money. 

And then there are bugs, birds, and the scratchy claws of tree-dwelling mammals, all of which leave their own marks. While these flaws don’t alter the quality or flavor of mangoes, Ledesma said grocery chains reject over 40% of crops due to such blemishes — blemishes that may go unnoticed were mangoes not so bright, if they were, say, Casturi blue.

Ledesma believes that a blue hue would also confer other advantages. 

“Everyone is looking for this color,” she said. “Carrots and potatoes are becoming blue, and purple are loving it.”

Ube and açai have seen a meteoric rise in popularity in recent years. Butterfly pea flower has become a staple at boba shops. Spirulina is turning smoothies, soft serve, and lattes blue, too.

“You don’t even need to explain it, people just go for it,” Ledesma said. “I think that if we can make this blue mango, it is going to be a winner.”

Color psychologist Michelle Lewis founded The Color Institute, where she researches how color influences human behavior. She agrees with Ledesma: Blue sells. 

Polls by Crayola and research from the BBC have consistently shown blue and shades of blue to be our collective favorites when it comes to colors.

“It’s definitely the world’s favorite,” Lewis said of blue. “It’s a very calming color. Many people associate it with vacation and relaxation, even though when we’re sad we say, ‘I’m feeling blue.’ It covers a lot of range psychologically for us.”

While blue has long been popular, the color hasn’t always been a favorite for foods, perhaps because blue foods are so rare in nature. Lewis credits waves of brand marketing — blue Gatorade, blue Slurpees, blue M&M’s — for nudging us over the blue-food cliff. Now that we’re here, why not a blue mango?

“It’s the perfect time for it,” Lewis said. 

If only Ledesma’s mango trees understood time. At her South Florida orchard, her work as mango Cupid hasn’t quite hit the mark. She hopes to breed a blue mango that’s sweet, fragrant, non-fibrous, and appropriately sized. But Casturis are particular. They flower and fruit early in the mango season. Unlike most mango trees, which create pungent blooms to attract the flies that pollinate them, Casturi flowers smell like lilacs, “pure perfume,” Ledesma said, and are pollinated by bees. 

With her first successful Casturi crossing more than a decade ago, Ledesma’s bees adored the Casturi tree’s blossoms but avoided the smelly flowers of the Rosigold mango tree she chose for its partner. So, Ledesma placed Rosigold blooms at the hive’s exit, forcing the bees to pass through them to get to the Casturis. It worked. The resulting fruits were a lovely, plummy blue. But they were still small and stringy, the flavor not quite right. 

Ledesma is several generations in now, and she’s getting closer to her goal. When asked about genetic splicing to speed things along, Ledesma explained that several genes are responsible for a mango’s color, making it almost impossible to modify manually. 

Plus, where’s the fun in that?

“To be a mango Cupid, it’s a lot of challenges!” Ledesma said, laughing. “You have to be humble, pay attention to details, be patient, and love what you are doing.”

Hers is a labor of love that could forever change our mango perceptions, and what it means to be blue.