The Mango Myth: Does Eating Mango Get You Higher?

Ask a few longtime smokers and someone will swear by it: eat a ripe mango about an hour before you light up, and the high hits harder and lasts longer. The usual explanation points to myrcene, a terpene found in both mangoes and cannabis.

It is a fun idea and a tasty one. The research behind it is close to empty.

Key takeaways

• We found no study testing whether eating mango changes a cannabis high, in people or in animals.
• Even myrcene-rich mangoes carry tiny amounts next to cannabis flower, and many cultivars carry little myrcene at all.
• In lab tests, myrcene did not activate cannabinoid receptors or change how THC acted on them.
• Dose, vaping, fatty food with edibles and alcohol all change a high, and each has evidence behind it, unlike mango.

Mango before smoking, as the story goes

The claim comes in a few versions. Fans of eating mango before smoking say a ripe one, eaten 45 minutes to two hours ahead, boosts the high, makes it last longer or helps THC reach the brain faster. That last version is the most specific, and the least supported. A 2021 review of myrcene research describes a possible role for myrcene in assisting cannabinoids to be absorbed across the blood-brain barrier, then adds that the data supporting it are limited.

We found no study, in people or animals, that tested mango or myrcene eaten as food alongside cannabis. The same review counted just two human studies of myrcene of any kind, both with inhaled essential oils. So the mango weed myth rests on a shared ingredient and a lot of word of mouth.

Myrcene in mango vs a gram of flower

Mango and weed do share myrcene, but not in the same amounts, and mango myrcene changes a lot from one cultivar to the next. Roughly, mango aroma falls into three camps:

• Delta-3-carene, which dominates New World cultivars
• Myrcene and (Z)-ocimene, typical of Old World cultivars such as India's Alphonso
• Terpinolene and alpha-pinene, important in many Chinese cultivars

In a 2017 study of 25 cultivars grown in one Chinese orchard, beta-myrcene, a major terpene, accounted for 58.93% of the aroma compounds in a cultivar called Xiaofei, while terpinolene, 3-carene, caryophyllene and alpha-pinene led in others.

Those are shares of a tiny total. A 2018 study of 37 Chinese cultivars measured total aroma compounds from 211 to 26,022 micrograms per kilogram of fresh fruit, with Xiaofei at the top. If myrcene made up 58.93% of that top figure, a kilogram of the most aromatic mango measured would hold roughly 15 mg of it. A gram of THC-rich flower can hold anywhere from 0.12 to 14.8 mg, a 2022 review found, so matching a myrcene-heavy gram would take about a kilogram of the richest mango, and far more of a typical one.

Myrcene is also a common flavoring. In 2018 the FDA removed synthetic myrcene and five other flavorings from its list of approved food additives because they caused cancer in laboratory animals given much higher doses, while stating that they do not pose a risk to public health under the conditions of their intended use. The change did not affect foods with natural myrcene, such as mango.

Receptors, the brain barrier and the gut

So does eating mango make you higher through some effect on the cannabinoid receptors? Lab tests say no. In a 2019 study, beta-myrcene and five other common cannabis terpenes were tested on human CB1 and CB2 receptors in cells, and none of them directly activated CB1 or CB2 or changed how THC acted on them. A 2020 study of five terpenes, myrcene included, reached the same conclusion.

Eating also changes the route. Myrcene from fruit has to pass through the gut and the liver before it reaches the blood, and the 2021 review notes that how the human body handles swallowed myrcene is still poorly studied. No study we found showed myrcene opening the blood-brain barrier to THC.

The only human trial of swallowed myrcene we found was a small pilot. Ten people took a 15 mg capsule of pure beta-myrcene or a canola oil control, with no THC, and on myrcene they showed poorer speed control in a driving simulator and more errors on a divided attention task. The authors called it proof-of-principle evidence, and 15 mg is roughly what a kilogram of the most myrcene-rich mango above would hold.

The unexamined day is a wasted opportunity. Reflect on what you did, what you learned, and how you can improve.

John Dewey

Indica labels and the couch-lock idea

Myrcene's reputation comes from a broader belief that it makes cannabis heavy and sleepy. Some reviews repeat a claim that flower with more than 0.5% myrcene brings on couch-lock, a figure we could not trace to any study in people.

The labels themselves are shaky. A 2021 study found Sativa- and Indica-labeled flower genetically indistinct, and labeling was associated with variation in a small number of terpenes, with myrcene the strongest link: its level explained 21.2% of the variation in Indica labels. That ties myrcene to the label, not to an effect in the body, and the line between indica and sativa is blurrier than most menus admit.

Our own catalog shows why a terpene is not a promise. Pineapple Express, a Hawaiian landrace sativa and Trainwreck cross at 28% THC, is powered by a myrcene-dominant terpene profile, yet its page describes uplifting and energetic effects. If it is the mango taste you are after, Papaya Frosting, a Papayamosa and Banana Frosting cross at 28% THC, lists mango and papaya in its flavor.

Dose, vapor, food and alcohol

If you want a stronger or longer high, the things you control with evidence behind them have nothing to do with fruit. Alcohol is one of them. In a 2015 study, peak blood THC after high-dose vaporized cannabis was 42.2 micrograms per liter without alcohol and 67.5 with a low dose of alcohol, significantly higher than without alcohol, which the authors suggested may explain greater impairment. That is a reason for caution, not a tip.

Food mostly matters for edibles. With a high-fat meal, the body absorbed 2.9 times as much THC from dronabinol in the drug's label studies, and a 2020 review puts the gain for oral CBD at about fourfold. We found no study showing that food changes smoked or vaped THC, and a mango has almost no fat anyway.

Running your own mango test

In our experience, the mango trick feels real to plenty of people, and expectation is powerful. If you want to test it on yourself, keep it fair:

1. Pick one strain and keep the amount and the method the same each time.
2. On one day, eat a ripe mango about an hour before your session, and on another day, skip it.
3. Keep everything else steady, including sleep, meals and no alcohol.
4. Rate how high you felt and for how long, and write it down right away.
5. Repeat each version a few times before you decide.

Knowing it is mango day can shape what you feel, so treat one great session as a story, not proof. And if poison ivy gives you a rash, peel mangoes with care, since mango skin can cause contact dermatitis in people sensitive to urushiol, the allergen in poison ivy.

Sweet fruit, same high

Mango and weed share myrcene, and that shared aroma is about all the evidence the myth has. A ripe mango holds a small and variable amount of myrcene, lab tests show myrcene does not act on cannabinoid receptors, and we found no study of the mango trick itself. Eat the mango because it tastes good, and count on dose, route and what else you consume to shape the high.

Barney's Farm has been developing premium cannabis genetics since the 1980s, with over 40 Cannabis Cup wins. Explore our full seed catalog and find strains bred for every climate and skill level.