I replied earlier but a few more tastes have come up:
Cilantro: love it but recognize the soapiness;
Mangos: no fishy flavor but sometimes note a piney turpentine-y taste.
I’ve returned dry fruit before, then not bought any for awhile and forgotten. I notice it in mangoes and papaya. Just bought some tonight, enjoyed the pineapple, bit into the mango and spit it out. Tried another piece to be sure. That’s why I went online to see if others experience this. So glad to find you. I would love for the food chemists to explain this–how do we find them? There’s a chef who just put out four hardbound books on food chemistry (and I saw a $40 single “condensed” hardcover at Costco) but all that is too much for me to buy. Hope we find out.
I have also noticed a pine-y taste in mangos before. Glad I wasn’t the only one! Never noticed a fishy taste but mangos aren’t in season around here long enough to get many good ones.
Despite being a great lover of fruits and vegetables, Mangoes continue to be an exception, though to me they taste unpleasantly like meat, rather than fish.
Many years ago Coca Cola relased a new flavour of Lilt ( Fanta Pineapple and Grapefruit - Wikipedia ) which judging by Wikipedia must have been ‘Mandarin & Mango’ flavoured, and I remember being appalled at its meaty taste - like a carbonated pork Bovril. But no-one seemed to agree with me.
I understand that ethylene is used to control the ripening process in mangoes. This is because mangoes are almost always harvested well before they are ripe.
I often detected a burnt kerosene smell when I used to eat mangoes while growing up in India (and I ate a lot of mangoes when in season!). And so I just looked up how to make ethylene and voila! by burning kerosene.
Is that something close to what you smell? Maybe there are other ways to produce enthylene?
I invariably notice a pine-y taste in mangos, at least “normal” green mangos. Even when nice and ripe and delicious, I always get a hint of pine.
Not sure about “fishy” but I certainly notice a few off flavors in mangos.
I vastly prefer yellow / Champaigne / Manilla mangos when available; I never taste off notes in 'em. Underripe, they’re merely overmild. Ripe…heaven.
I’ve known some food chemists in my days, but never thought to ask them this question about fishy mangos. It is undeniable to me… as others have said, at least the first few bites. There must be a scientific explanation :eek:
I adore mangoes, eat them fresh, process and freeze them myself to use year round, in smoothies, Yummo!
I detect none of the tastes you’ve mentioned. And I love cilantro, too!
Oh my goodness! I eat a ton of mangos and mango products and have never noticed any of the tastes you mention. I also love cilantro.
I love mangos (sliced with fresh lime juice, or in shakes, or as a salsa, or Trader Joe’s chocolate-covered dried mangos…), although here in the upper Midwest they are probably pretty old by the time they get here. The ones I’ve had while visiting places where they grow naturally are definitely superior.
I know what you mean about the fishy/piney/soapy taste, though…
I also really like cilantro.
At least you’re consistent! (psst, check out your posts above from 2012!) 
:smack:
Hah! Didn’t notice this was a zombie. The fishy/soapy issue with mangos, weirdly enough, came up today in conversation. About how some tropical fruits taste much better when fresh, in comparison to what’s on sale at Kroger or Meijers.
Too funny.
Mangoes taste vaguely of death and rot to me.
And, no, that’s not a zombie thread joke. They really do. I’m learning to like them, but there’s a putrescent odor that shades the flavor. Maybe that’s what others are calling “fishy”.
I love cilantro, although I didn’t always. I can sort of see the “soap” flavor, but it’s a good soap flavor. I wonder if the “soapy cilantro” gene is of incomplete dominance, and I only have one or something.
I thought I was the only person who doesn’t really like mangos. Fishy, piney, rotten, astringent- they just taste off to me.
Love cilantro.
Yeah, there is a certain savory-ness to mangoes. I guess I could see calling it “fishy.” But I like it. Papayas are even stronger in this regard. I don’t know if it’s quite the same flavor, but it’s got an ever stronger funk to it that contrasts with the tropical fruitiness.
On about half of the mango’s I’ve eaten I’ve noticed that putridy taste. They also seem slimier.
I figured they were old…who knows for sure when they were picked but I bet they’re at least a month old.
I’m going to go out on a limb, stick my neck out and take a shot in the dark, and ask if you perhaps detect the piscine mango flavor after gutting fish, or playing with your koi?
My mangoes often taste porcine after eating Jimmy Dean sausage, equine after eating at McDonald’s and feline after eating at the cheap Chinese restaurant down the street. I also feel asinine eating mangoes while riding my neighbor’s donkey.
But, seriously: I do, at times detect a fishy note to mangoes. And cilantro doesn’t taste soapy to me, it tastes distinctly metallic.
There’s also like a gazillion different kinds of mangoes, so some variation can be due to that, as well. (I think they have like three or four varieties at my local grocery.)
Cilantro tastes just like soap to me and I have also detected a very slight fishy smell (but not taste) to some kinds of dried mango, but not fresh mango.
I’m Indian and must have eaten a gazillion mangoes, what with them being the highlight of the summer fruits in India, but I can’t say as I’ve ever noticed a fishy taste. Perhaps it’s something in the varieties or processing that’s done in the US?