Mango wood is derived from the mango tree, the tree that gives us the mango fruit. The mango tree belongs to the Anacardiaceae family, including Pistachio, Cashew and Poison Ivy trees and in Latin the mango tree is called “Mangifera indica”.
HOW IS MANGO WOOD USED?
The mango fruit on the trees are harvested for food consumption, but the Mango wood could also be used for its wood.
The mango wood is a hardwood. This means that is strong and durable and therefore perfect for making furniture and household items. In comparison with other hardwood, Mango wood is more easy to work with. That makes it suitable for furniture and
household items as cutting, shaping and carving is easy.
Other areas where you could find mango wood is flooring, musical instruments, kitchen accessories like chopping boards and trays.
The mango wood can take stains well and is highly resistant to water. Therefore, it also is suitable for outdoor furniture.
Image: Cutting board in mango wood from Be Home (photo cred Be Home)
THE COLOR OF MANGO WOOD
This wood is often golden brown but can also have yellow tints, or blacks or pink streaks on the surface.
The wood has beautiful colors due to
“spalting”, streaks of colors, in the range from beige to black.
This is very attractive by the artisans, that works with the wood.
Due to the density of the wood, it doesn’t wear out easily and can keep the lustre texture for many years. However, unlike other hardwood furniture, Mango wood, is often seen as more affordable and sustainable.
Without stains and a clear wax finishing the wood is a bit darker that oak. It has a grain pattern, that you also will find on oak or mahogany.
WHERE DOES MANGO TREE GROW?
The mango tree grows in tropical climates. These trees doesn´t like when it gets cold. Cold temperature over time damage or can kill the tree.
Native mango trees you find in India, Myanmar and East Asia. A lot of the cultivated mango trees comes from India but there is also farmed trees in Kenya and China.
Image:https://www.barnbarn.de/product-pages/be-home/mango-wood/
A QUICK GROWING TREE
The mango tree grows quick and can get as high as 30 meters. Even higher with the canopy (the part of the tree that also is called crown).
The mango tree has large leaves that are leathery in the feel. They can get 12 up to 40 centimeters in length and stays on the tree for a year or more. The mango carries flowers, that get pollinated by insects but less than 1percent of the flowers, will mature to form of fruit.
Within 10-15 years the mango tree reaches full productivity. When getting older and taller, they of course get more difficult to harvest for its fruit. When this happens, the trees can be felled, and new trees can be planted. A new tree is planted, and this will mature within15 years. The oak tree for example would need circa 75 years to reach full maturity. Due to the quick reproduction, the prices on the mango wood is relatively low.
Another important piece of mango tree information is that its growth causes a process called carbon sequestration or carbon uptake. The tree absorbs carbon dioxide from the environment in mango tree climate zones around the world, using it to form the trunk, branches, leaves and fruit of the mango tree. The tree produces oxygen and releases it into the environment during this process.
BENEFITS WITH MANGO WOOD:
It´s durable:
Mango wood is perfect for furniture and has the strength of ash and oak. It doesn’t wear out quickly and ages beautifully. So you can keep your pieces for a long time.
It´s sustainable:
The tree grows and matures quick and reaches full maturity already after 10-15 years. Then the tree produces
less fruit and could be felled. Mango farmers plants new trees every 7 to 15 years and that creates a sustainable cycle of plantation and harvest, and only the trees that doesn’t bring much fruit is chooped down.
It´s
affordable:
As it is sustainable and grow quick (compare with other hardwood). Therefore the
price of the wood is not so high. When the tree has been felled,
it also requires limited processing which also helps to keep the cost down.
It´s beautiful:
The wood has texture, patterns and variations in colors, making every piece unique.
The Mango Wood products from Be Home are sustainably sourced, from protected groves and carved by hand from a single piece of wood. At Be Home they only work with sustainably sourced timber, supporting the planting of new trees with each harvest.
In our assortment we have beautiful cutting board in brushed black mango wood from Be Home.
Source: behome.eu / grainandframe.com / mango.org/mango-tree/
