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Mango
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Mangoes belong to the genus Mangifera, consisting of numerous species of tropical fruiting trees in the flowering plant family Anacardiaceae. The mango is indigenous to the Indian Subcontinent especially India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Southeast Asia. Cultivated in many tropical regions and distributed widely in the world, mango is one of the most extensively exploited fruits for food, juice, flavor, fragrance and color, making it a common ingredient in new functional foods often called superfruits.
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Mangoes belong to the genus Mangifera, consisting of numerous species of tropical fruiting trees in the flowering plant family Anacardiaceae. The mango is indigenous to the Indian Subcontinent especially India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Southeast Asia. Cultivated in many tropical regions and distributed widely in the world, mango is one of the most extensively exploited fruits for food, juice, flavor, fragrance and color, making it a common ingredient in new functional foods often called superfruits. Its leaves are ritually used as floral decorations at weddings and religious ceremonies.
Etymology
The name mango is ultimately either from the Kodagu mange, the Malayalam manga, or the Tamil mangai, and was loaned into Portuguese in the early 16th century as manga, from where the Portuguese passed into English. The ending in -o appears in English and is of unclear origin.
Description
Mango trees (Mangifera indica L.) reach 35-40 m in height, with a crown radius of 10 m. The tree is long-lived with some specimens known to be over 300 years old and still fruiting. In deep soil the taproot descends to a depth of 20 ft, and the profuse, wide-spreading feeder roots also send down many anchor roots which penetrate for several feet. The leaves are evergreen, alternate, simple, 15-35 cm long and 6-16 cm broad; when the leaves are young they are orange-pink, rapidly changing to a dark glossy red, then dark green as they mature. The flowers are produced in terminal panicles 10-40 cm long; each flower is small and white with five petals 5-10 mm long, with a mild sweet odor suggestive of lily of the valley. The fruit takes from three to six months to ripen.
The ripe fruit is variable in size and color, and may be yellow, orange, red or green when ripe, depending on the cultivar. When ripe, the unpeeled fruit gives off a distinctive resinous sweet smell. In its center is a single flat oblong seed that can be fibrous or hairy on the surface, depending on the cultivar. Inside the seed coat 1-2 mm thick is a thin lining covering a single embryo, 4-7 cm long, 3-4 cm wide, and 1 cm thick.
Cultivation and uses
Mangoes have been cultivated in the Indian subcontinent for thousands of years and reached East Asia between the 5th-4th century BC. By the 10th century AD, they were transported to East Africa and subsequently introduced to Brazil, West Indies and Mexico, where climate allows its appropriate growth. The 14th century Muslim traveler, Ibn Battuta, reported it at Mogadishu.
Mango is now cultivated as a fruit tree in frost-free tropical and warmer subtropical climates like that of the Indian subcontinent; nearly half of the world's mangoes are cultivated in India alone.
Other regions where mango is cultivated include North, South and Central America, the Caribbean, south and central Africa, Australia, China, Pakistan and Southeast Asia. It is easily cultivated yielding more than 1,000 cultivars, ranging from the "turpentine mango" (named for its strong taste of turpentine, which according to the Oxford Companion to Food some varieties actually contain) to the huevos de toro ("eggs of the bull", a euphemism for "bull's testicles", referring to the shape and size).
Though India is the largest producer of mangoes in the world, it accounts for less than one percent of the global mango trade.
Dwarf or semi-dwarf varieties serve as ornamental plants and can be grown in containers.
Diseases
Food
A ripe mango is sweet, with a unique taste that nevertheless varies from variety to variety. The texture of the flesh varies between cultivars, some having a soft, pulpy texture similar to an over-ripe plum, while others have firmer flesh like a cantaloupe or avocado. In some cultivars, the flesh has a fibrous texture.
In western recipes of 'Chutney', ripe mangoes are often used, but chutney in the Indian subcontinent is usually made with sour, unripe mangoes and hot chilis or limes. In India, ripe mangoes are often cut into thin layers, desiccated, folded, and then cut. These bars, known as aampapdi,' amavat or halva in Hindi, are similar to dried guava fruit bars available in Colombia. In many parts of India, people eat squeezed mango juice (called ras) on a variety of bread. This is part of the meal rather than a dessert. Unripe mangoes (which are extremely sour) are eaten with salt, and in regions where food is hotter, with salt and chili.
In Kerala, ripe mangoes are used in a dish called mambazha kaalan.
In Maharashtra,moramba (a kind of preserve, made from jaggery and mango) and aamrus (Pulp/Thick Juice made of mangoes, with a bit of sugar if needed and milk at times) are famous. A spicy, sweet and sour semi-liquid side-dish called meth-amba is made from unripe mango slices called kairi, jaggery and fenugreek seeds. They can be enjoyed with poories and polies, like jam.
In India mango is used as pickle (aachar), amawat, murraba, sukhawata & chatnior chutney.
During the hot summer months, a cooling summer drink called panha (in Marathi) and panna (across north India) is made with raw mango. Mango lassi is made by adding mango pulp to the North Indian yoghurt drink lassi.
The fruit is also used in a variety of cereal products, in particular muesli and oat granola.
Dried and powdered unripe mango is known as amchur (sometimes spelled amchoor) in India and ambi in Urdu. Amb is a Sindhi, aamba a Marathi, and aam a Hindi/Urdu/Punjabi word for mango.
Elsewhere
In the Philippines, unripe mango is eaten with bagoong. Dried strips of sweet, ripe mango are also popular, with those from Cebu exported worldwide. Guimaras produces a delicious mango.
In Mexico, mango is used to make juices, smoothies, ice cream, fruit bars, raspados, aguas frescas, pies and sweet chili sauce, or mixed with chamoy, a sweet and spicy chili paste. It is popular on a stick or also as a main ingredient in fresh fruit combinations.
Pieces of mango can be mashed and used as a topping on ice cream or blended with milk and ice as milkshakes. In Thailand and other South East Asian countries, sweet glutinous rice is flavored with coconut then served with sliced mango as a dessert.
In other parts of South-east Asia, mangoes are pickled with fish sauce and rice vinegar.
In Taiwan, mango is a topping that can be added to shaved ice along with condensed milk.
The sweet bell pepper (capsicum) was once known as mango in parts of the United States.
In Costa Rica and Guatemala, mango is either eaten green with salt, or ripe in various forms. Only in Costa Rica, ripe mangoes are called manga to differentiate them. In Guatemala, toasted and ground pumpkin seed with lime and salt are the norm when eating green mangoes.
Nutrient and antioxidant properties
Mango is rich in a variety of phytochemicals and nutrients that qualify it as a model "superfruit", a term used to highlight potential health value of certain edible fruits. The fruit is high in prebiotic dietary fiber, vitamin C, polyphenols and carotenoids.
Mango contains essential vitamins and dietary minerals. The antioxidant vitamins A, C and E comprise 25%, 76% and 9% of the Dietary Reference Intake (DRI) in a 165 g serving. Vitamin B6 (pyridoxine, 11% DRI), vitamin K (9% DRI), other B vitamins and essential nutrients such as potassium, copper and 17 amino acids are at good levels. Mango peel and pulp contain other phytonutrients, such as the pigment antioxidants - carotenoids and polyphenols - and omega-3 and -6 polyunsaturated fatty acids.
The edible mango peel has considerable value as a source of dietary fiber and antioxidant pigments. Contained within the peel and pulp are rich contents of polysaccharides as fiber sources, especially starch and pectins.
Antioxidants of the peel and pulp include carotenoids, such as the provitamin A compound, beta-carotene, lutein and alpha-carotene, polyphenols such as quercetin, kaempferol, gallic acid, caffeic acid, catechins, tannins, and the unique mango xanthone, mangiferin, any of which may counteract free radicals in various disease mechanisms as revealed in preliminary research. Contents of these phytochemicals and nutrients appear to vary across different mango species. Up to 25 different carotenoids have been isolated from mango pulp, the densest content for which was beta-carotene accounting for the yellow-orange pigmentation of most mango species. Peel and leaves also have significant content of polyphenols, including xanthones, mangiferin and gallic acid.
The mango triterpene, lupeol is an effective inhibitor in laboratory models of prostate and skin cancers. An extract of mango branch bark called Vimang, isolated by Cuban scientists, contains numerous polyphenols with antioxidant properties in vitro and on blood parameters of elderly humans.
The pigment euxanthin, known as Indian yellow, is often thought to be produced from the urine of cows fed mango leaves; the practice is described as having been outlawed in 1908 due to malnutrition of the cows and possible urushiol poisoning. One author claims these descriptions of the pigment's origin rely on a single anecdotal source and Indian legal records do not mention such a practice being outlawed.
Production and consumption
Mangoes account for approximately fifty percent of all tropical fruits produced worldwide. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations estimates worldwide production of mangoes at more than 23 million tons in 2001. With 12 million tons produced annually (2002-3 data), India accounts for almost half of the world production, followed by China (3 million tons), Pakistan (2.25 million tons), Mexico (1.5 million tons) and Thailand (1.35 million tons). The aggregate production of 10 countries is responsible for roughly 80% of the entire world mango production.
Alphonso, Benishan or Benishaan (Banganpalli in Telugu and Tamil) and Kesar mango varieties are considered among the best mangoes in the Southern states whereas Dussehri and Langda varieties are most popular in the Northern states of India. Commonly exported, the Alphonso cultivar is grown exclusively in the Konkan region of Maharashtra. Alphonso is named after Afonso De Albuquerque who reputedly brought the drupe on his journeys to Goa. The locals took to calling this Aphoos in Konkani and in Maharashtra the pronunciation got further corrupted to Hapoos. This variety then was taken to the Konkan region of Maharashtra and other parts of India. Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka states in the south, Gujarat in western India, and Uttar Pradesh and Bihar in the north are major producers of mangoes harvested especially to make spicy mango pickles having regional differences in taste. In Pakistan the popular mangoes are the Sindhri and Chaunsa, besides other varieties like Langra, Anwar Ratoal and Malva. The Sindhri mango is primarily produced in the province of Sindh and can measure up to half a foot in length. It is generally considered one of the best mangoes in the world.
Generally, once ripe, mangoes have an orange-yellow or reddish peel and are juicy for eating while those intended for export are often picked while under-ripe with green peels. Although producing ethylene while ripening, unripened exported mangoes do not have the same juiciness or flavor as fresh fruit.
Mangoes are popular throughout Latin America. In Mexico, sliced mango is eaten with chili powder and/or salt. Street vendors sometimes sell whole mangoes on a stick, dipped in the chili-salt mixture. In Indonesia and Thailand, green mango is sold by street vendors with sugar and salt and/or chili, or used in a sour salad called rujak or rojak in Malaysia and Singapore. Ayurveda considers ripe mango sweet and heating, balancing all three doshas (humors), while also providing energy. Powdered raw mango is sometimes a condiment in various cuisines.
Like other drupaceous fruits, mangoes come in both freestone and clingstone varieties.
Area harvested of mangoes by country as of 2007:
- India : 2,143,000 hectares
- China : 445,000 hectares
- Thailand : 285,000 hectares
- Indonesia : 266,000 hectares
- Pakistan : 215,000 hectares
- Mexico : 200,000 hectares
- Philippines : 181,000 hectares
- Nigeria : 126,500 hectares
- Brazil : 89,800 hectares
- Guinea : 82,000 hectares
- Viet Nam : 52,000 hectares
- Bangladesh : 51,000 hectares
Cultivars
Many hundreds of named mango cultivars exist. In mango orchards, several cultivars are often intermixed to improve cross-pollination. Many desired cultivars are mono-embryonic and need to be propagated by grafting methods or else they will not be true-to-type.
A common (mono-embryonic) cultivar is Alphonso known in Asia under its original name, Hapoos. As it is extremely popular, even outside the Indian subcontinent, Alphonso is an important export product.
Other popular cultivars are mentioned in the list (link above).
Cultivars excelling in one climate may fail to achieve elsewhere. For example, the cultivar Julie, a Jamaican favorite, and Alphonso have not been successfully grown in Florida.
The current world market is dominated by the cultivar Tommy Atkins, a seedling of Haden which first fruited in 1940 in southern Florida, USA. Despite being initially rejected commercially by Florida researchers, Tommy Atkins is now a favorite worldwide. For example, 80% of mangoes in UK supermarkets are Tommy Atkins. Despite its fibrous flesh and fair taste, growers worldwide have embraced the cultivar for its exceptional production and disease resistance, the shelf-life of its fruit, their transportability as well as size and appealing color. Tommy Atkins is predominant in the USA as well, although other cultivars, such Kent, Keitt, the Haitian grown Madame Francis and the Mexican grown Champagne are widely available.
In urban areas of southern Florida, small gardens, or lack thereof, have fueled the desire for dwarf mango trees. The Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden has promoted "condo mangoes" which produce at a height below 2-2.5 m.
A list of additional leading cultivars can be found at the cultivar list in the external links below.
There is an Australian variety of mango known as , a name based on the orchard row location of the original plant.
Species
There are many species of mango, including:
See also
External links
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