Abstract: In order to explore the coloration mechanism of mango pulp during the ripening process and provide a theoretical basis for the quality control of mango storage and preservation as well as the retention of the original color of pulp in processed products, based on LC-MS targeted metabolomics combined with multivariate statistical analysis methods, the metabolic differences of carotenoids and their effects on the color change of pulp in different ripening stages of Tainong mangoes, including raw fruits (<60%-ripened), green-ripe (60%-, 70%-, 80%-ripened), fully ripe (90%-ripened), and over-ripe (100%-ripened), were analyzed. The results showed that as the ripeness of mangoes increased, the L^* value showed a gradually decreasing trend (74.58~62.90), the a^* value showed a significantly increasing trend (from −11.22 to 19.17), and the color difference ΔE between the pulp of 60%-ripened to 100%-ripened mangoes and that of less than 60%-ripened mangoes gradually increased (27.93~41.98). The contents of the 20 measured carotenoid substances generally showed an upward trend during the ripening process of mangoes (60.94~98.12 μg/g). Among them, the carotenoid substances with the highest contents were 5,6 epoxy-lutein-caprate-palmitate (27.82~65.54 μg/g) and β-carotene (10.78~22.58 μg/g), while the ones with the lowest contents were echinenone (0.0014~0.0021 μg/g) and zeaxanthin-laurate-palmitate (0.0031 μg/g). (E/Z)-phytoene, β-carotene, β-cryptoxanthin, lutein, violaxanthin, neoxanthin, antheraxanthin dipalmitate, and zeaxanthin palmitate were the main contributors to the color change during the ripening process of mangoes. A total of 13 metabolites were significantly differentially expressed during the ripening process, among which 9 metabolites showed an increasing trend and 4 metabolites showed a decreasing trend. Compared with the pulp of less than 60%-ripened mangoes, from 70%-ripened to 100%-ripened, the contents of two metabolites, antheraxanthin dipalmitate and neoxanthin, both showed a significantly decreasing trend, while the content of zeaxanthin palmitate showed a continuously increasing trend during this gradually ripening process, and its contents from 80%-ripened to 100%-ripened increased to 2.91 times, 4.62 times, and 4.74 times respectively. Violaxanthin-myristate-palmitate, zeaxanthin-laurate-palmitate, and phytoene were the specific differential metabolites of Tainong mangoes of 60%-ripened, 80%-ripened, and 100%-ripened respectively, and could be used as potential markers to distinguish mangoes of specific ripeness.