MANGO
Botanical name: Mangifera indica
Family: Anacardiaceae
Vernacular names: Aam (Hindi, Beng.), Amri (Guj.), Abba (Mar.), Manga (Tam.), Mamidi (Tel.), Amram (Mal.).
Mango, a native of south-east Asia, is one of the most popular and ancient fruits of India. It was perhaps being grown for 4,000 to 6,000 years. References to mango plant are found in earlier Sanskrit writings, including the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. Mango enjoyed a pre-eminence even in the Vedic ages, as it finds mention in the Satapatha Brahmana. Sculptures of mango tree and fruits are found in the Buddhist stupa at Sanchi, which dates back to 150 B.C. Mango was introduced into East Africa by the Persians in the 10th century A.D., and reached to the Persian Gulf by the 16th century. It was taken to Brazil from India by the Portuguese early in the 18th century, thence to Barbados in 1742 and also to other places in the West Indies. It was introduced into Florida from Mexico and as well as India in the 19th century. It reached Hawaii islands in 1865 and to Queensland in Australia in 1870. Today, mango is grown in practically all tropical parts of the world, especially India, Philippines, tropical Australia, south-east Africa, Hawaii, Indonesia, Thailand, Burma, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Egypt, Florida, Brazil, Pakistan, Mexico and Bangladesh. In India, mango is grown in almost all states, chiefly in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Tamil nadu and Orissa. India has nearly 65 per cent of the world’s area under mangoes being grown on an area of 1.1 million hectares yielding 9.5 million tonnes of fruits. In India, mangoes occupy 42.6 per cent of the total area under fruits being grown on an area of 0.94 million hectares yielding 8.21 million tonnes of fruits. Uttar Pradesh has the largest area under mango accounting for nearly 33.2 per cent of the total, followed by Bihar (13.5%) and Andhra Pradesh (13.4%). India can boast for the largest number of mango varieties and richness of their flavour.
Native Earth Thai All Time Mango Tree – Grafted Baramasi Fruit Plant Height 2 Feet
Mango is a large spreading and evergreen tree attaining a height of 10-25 m. The leaves are dark green, elliptic or lanceolate and somewhat leathery. The small pinkish-white flowers are borne in large panicles. The fruit is a large ovoid-oblong drupe, yellowish green to red in colour when ripe. The pericarp is differentiated into an epicarp, a fleshy mesocarp and a hard and stony endocarp. The seed is large, ovoid-oblong, compressed and non-endospermic.
Mango grows over a wide range of climatic and soil conditions in India up to an altitude of 1,220 m. Deep alluvial soils of Indo-Gangetic plains are ideally suited for mango cultivation. The well-drained laterite soils of Ratnagiri and Goa on the west coast, red soils of Dharwar, medium black soils of Peninsular India, and deep red loams with a substratum of loose gravel of Chennai are also very suitable for mango cultivation. A well-drained, deep loamy soil with a pH 5.5 – 7.5 is generally conducive to successful mango culture. Dry weather and a cloudless sky during flowering and fruit-ripening are essential for a good crop. An optimum temperature of 24-27% and an annual rainfall of 75-190 cm are required. Frost at the time of flowering is very injurious to the crop. Rainfall and cloudy weather at this time also damage flowers.
Mango is usually propagated through inarching, budding, grafting and marcotting (gootee). In inarching, a superior variety is grafted on to a seedling rootstock. In budding, a piece of bark with a single bud taken from the scion is placed in contact with the stem of the stock seeding under the bark. In marcotting, 0.60-1.25 cm thick shoot is taken and a ring of bark 3-5 cm broad is removed from all round the shoot, 0.3-0.5 cm below the growing point. Thereafter, the ringed portion of the shoot is wrapped in wet moss and covered with a plastic wrap. Grafted plants are transplanted to the field from nursery after 6 to 12 months. Plants are also raised from seeds. Pits of 0.9 X 0.9 X 0.9 m are dug and kept open for about four weeks. Then they are refilled with top soil mixed with 45 kg of bone-meal and 4.5 kg of wood ashes and farmyard manure. Seeds are sown in these pits usually during the monsoon. The tree starts bearing fruits after 4 to 6 years, and reaches at its peak in about 15 years. The tree has a bearing life of about 50 years. Mango crop is prone to alternate bearing. Heavy flowering and fruiting in one year considerably depletes nitrogen reserve of the tree and only a light crop is obtained the next year. Fruits take five to six months to mature and are often picked when still green.
A large number of varieties of mangoes are grown in India. The important ones are Dusehri, Langra, Bombay Green, Samarbehish, Chowsa, Bombai, Gulab Khas, Himsagar, Fazli, Subul, Bombai Bhutto, Alphonso, Pairi, Fernandin, Bangalora, Rumani, Mulgoba and Suvarnarekha. Besides, two hybrids namely Amrapali and Mallika have been developed by IARI, New Delhi and one hybrid Ratna from Dapoli, Maharashtra.
The cv Amrapali, a cross between Dusehri and Neelum, is dwarf, regular bearer, late maturing and rich in vitamin A. The cv Mallika, a cross between Neelum and Dusehri, has the fruit quality of Dusehri and regular bearing character of Neelum. The cv Ratna is a cross between Neelum and Alphonso.
Ripe mango fruit contains 84% water, 10-20% sugar and small amounts of fruit acids, minerals, fats and proteins. It is a rich source of carotene, and some varieties contain fairly good amount of vitamin C.
Mango is classed among the choicest fruits of the world. The unripe fruits are pickled and are used for chutney, preparation of amchur and culinary preparations. The ripe fruits are mostly eaten fresh as a dessert fruit, and are made into jams, jellies, squash, preserves and are also canned. Mango-shake, a refreshing drink is made by mixing mango flesh with milk and sugar. Cotyledons of mango seeds are used as food and feed in times of scarcity. The unripe fruit is astringent and antiscorbutic, and is useful in ophthalmia and eruption. The ripe fruit is laxative, diuretic, diaphoretic, astringent, nutrient, invigorating, fattening and refrigerant. It is useful in haemorrhage of uterus, lungs or intestines and in heat apoplexy. The dried mango peel can be used as a fuel for biogas plants. The biogas plant effluents are then used as a substitute for conventional fish feed. The kernel is astringent, anthelmintic, stimulant, anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, antifungal, antispasmodic, antiscorbutic and is given in diarrhoea, asthma, diabetes, ulcers and nasal bleeding. The leaves are used in the treatment of burns, scalds and diabetes. The bark is astringent, anthelmintic, useful in haemoptysis haemorrhage, nasal catarrh, diarrhoea, ulcers, diphtheria, and rheumatism.
The seed fat is a promising substitute for cocoa-butter. Defatted mango kernels are rich in starch which can be biconverted enzymatically using the yeast strains into single cell proteins (SCP).
