IQF Mango Specification: Varieties, Brix, Cut Sizes and Additives

What belongs in an IQF mango specification?

An IQF mango specification defines the fruit (variety, Brix, maturity), the cut and its tolerances, the additive status, the defect and microbiological limits, and the storage temperature.

What Brix should IQF mango have?

There is no single right value. Brix follows ripeness: riper mango is sweeter and more aromatic, but also softer, so the best Brix depends on what the fruit has to do.

• Dice for yoghurt, desserts or inclusions: a moderate Brix with firm flesh keeps the cubes intact.
• Smoothies and fruit preparations: higher Brix gives more flavour and reduces added sugar; firmness matters less because the fruit is blended.
• Retail bags: sweetness and colour drive repeat purchase, so the sensory reference matters as much as the number.

Our working range for IQF mango is shown in the table further down, confirmed per lot on the COA. Set a minimum Brix, or a range, for your application, and state how it is measured — on juice pressed from the thawed fruit, read with a refractometer — so that your intake laboratory and the supplier get the same answer.

Which cut sizes are possible, and how are tolerances written?

IQF mango is supplied as dice, chunks and slices, cut to the buyer’s specification. Dice are specified by nominal edge length — for example 10 × 10 mm or 20 × 20 mm — and chunks and slices by their approximate dimensions or piece weight.

A cut specification is only enforceable with tolerances:

• the share of pieces allowed outside the nominal size, by weight;
• the maximum share of fines and small fragments;
• the maximum share of broken or irregular pieces;
• how a sample is drawn and measured on arrival.

Cutting yield and piece integrity depend on firmness, so tight tolerances and very ripe fruit work against each other. Agree both at the same time.

Does IQF mango contain additives or added sugar?

Plain IQF mango is fruit only. In our catalog its additive status is “normally none”, with anti-browning agents used only if declared. Some products do use additives, and each changes the label:

• Anti-browning agents such as ascorbic or citric acid protect colour, especially for light-coloured fruit, and must appear in the ingredient list.
• Sugar or syrup turns the product into sweetened frozen mango, a different product with a different ingredient list and different claims.

If your label will say “100% fruit” or “no added sugar”, write “plain fruit, no additives, no added sugar” into the specification and ask for the ingredient declaration with the approved sample.

How should buyers compare Vietnamese frozen mango offers?

Origin matters mainly because it determines which varieties are available and when.

Vietnamese frozen mango can taste noticeably different from Kent-based product because the varieties differ in fibre, sweetness and aroma. Whether that suits your product is a sensory decision. Run the comparison on representative samples tested against the same specification — Brix, maturity, cut, texture and flavour — rather than on country of origin. Our guide to mango varieties and origins looks at the same varieties from the dried-fruit side.

How to approve an IQF mango supplier’s product

Approve IQF mango on a frozen sample, checked both frozen and thawed, against your specification and the supplier’s COA:

1. Receive the sample frozen, and store it at -18 °C or colder until testing.
2. Check it frozen: free flow, clusters, frost inside the bag, cut geometry.
3. Check it thawed: drip loss, texture, colour, flavour and Brix against your reference.
4. Count defects on a defined sample weight.
5. Compare the COA with your own results and with the specification.
6. Retain part of the approved sample as the reference for production lots.

Our supplier qualification guide covers sampling, audits and COA reading in more detail, and the IQF cold chain guide explains why texture problems are often a cold-chain question.