There are a lot of blog posts and video channels claiming that mango seed kernels contain a high level of vitamin B12. I could find only one academic paper that claimed this:
Some nutrients and antinutrients contents of mango (Magnifera indica) seed - M.A. Fowomola, 2010, African journal of Food sciences
They claim 0.12 mg of Vitmain B12 per 100 g of Mango seed! If true, it would be a major source of Vitamin B12, especially for vegans and vegetarians.
How reliable is this claim? Although this is published in a journal, I am sceptical because:
- Vitamin B-12 can only be synthesized by some archaea and bacteria. It is unclear how mango seed could contain such high levels of this substance.
- the journal isn't that well known to me
Note: For anyone stumbling upon this, the same paper suggests soaking and boiling, roasting and boiling, or other forms of treatment to reduce anti-nutrients in mango seeds, before human consumption:
Low levels of antinutrients observed in mango seed suggested that it is less toxic and it will not adversely affects live stocks if incorporated in their feeds. The works of Ravindran and Sivakanesan (1996), Farag (2001) and Agunbiade and Olanlokun (2006) had earlier shown that soaking and boiling,autoclaving for 30 min plus irradiation up to 20 kGy and roasting and boiling drastically reduced the antinutrional factors present in mango seed kernels respectively, thereby improved their nutritional qualities.
