MANGO – Introduction

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Mango (Mangifera indica L.) .

Mango is native to southern Asia, specially Eastern India,Burmaand theAndaman Islands. Buddhist monks are believed to have taken the mango on voyages to Malaya and easternAsiain the 4th and 5th Centuries BC. Persians are said to have taken mangoes toEast Africaaround the 10th Century AD. The fruit was grown in the East Indies before the earliest visits of the Portuguese who apparently introduced it to West Africa in the early 16th Century and also intoBrazil. After becoming established inBrazil, the mango was carried to the West Indies, being first planted inBarbadosabout 1742 and later in theDominican Republic. It reachedJamaicaabout 1782 and, early in the 19th Century, reachedMexicofrom thePhilippinesand theWest Indies(Morton, 1987).

Mangifera contains about 30 species, although some authors put the number as high as 69. Up to 15 other species produce edible fruit, including the water mango M. laurina, and M. sylvatica, the wild, forest mango from which M. indica is thought to have descended. The highest diversity occurs inMalaysia, particularly in peninsular Malaya, Borneo andSumatra representing heart of the distribution range of the genus. The natural occurrence of all the Mangifera species extends as far north as 27 º latitude and as far east as theCaroline Islands (Bompard and Schnell, 1997). Wild mangoes occur inIndia,Sri Lanka,Bangladesh,Myanmar,Sikkim,Thailand,Kampuchea,Vietnam,Laos, southernChina,Malaysia,Singapore,Indonesia,Brunei, thePhilippines,Papua New Guinea, and the Solomon andCaroline Islands. Maximum species diversity exists in westernMalaysia and about 28 species are found in this region.

1. Diczbalis, Y., Wicks, C. and Landrigan, M. (1997). Heat sums to predict fruit maturity in mango (cv. Kensington Pride). Draft report for HRDC FR605 NTDPI&F.
2. Johnson, P.R. and Robinson, D.R. (1997). An evaluation of mango (Mangifera indica L.) cultivars and their commercial suitability for theKimberley. Department of Agriculture. 21/97 ISSN 1326-4168 Agdex 234/34.
3. Morton, J. 1987. Mango. p. 221–239. In: Fruits of warm climates. Julia F. Morton,Miami,FL.
4. P.R. Johnson and D. Parr. Mango growing in Western Australia. Bulletin 4348
5. Maxwell, Lewis S. and Betty M. Maxwell. Florida Fruit. Lewis S. Maxwell, Publisher. 1984. pp. 61-63
6. Samson, J. A. Tropical Fruits. 2nd ed. Longman Scientific and Technical. 1986. pp. 216-234.
7. Sherrard, J., Johnson, P.R. and Luke, G. (1997). Mango irrigation requirements for the Broome and Ord irrigation areas of Western Australia. Department of Agriculture. Draft report.
8. Sites on Mango

• Subtropical/Trop. Fruit Crops Database: http://www.agnic.nal.usda.gov/agdb/stropfc.html
• Mango Produce Facts Linked from the Postharvest Outreach Program, UC Davis
• Mango Overview, Propagation, And Agroforestry Uses Linked from Cornell University
• All About Mangoes
• Mango Fruit Facts and Mango Publications Courtesy of California Rare Fruit Growers.
• Mango Information  Linked from NewCrops, Purdue University.
• Mango Tip Burn And Sunburn Images  Linked from Texas A & M.
• Mango Production Regions  Linked from the Dept. of Agronomy, U.C. Davis
• Mango-Research and Development A site on various aspects related to manoes
• Mango recipes, history, varieties etc  — http://freshmangoes.com. or http://freshmangoes.com/mangonews/
• Mango Index Linked Information Mango Produce Facts
• Mango Food Resource (http://osu.orst.edu/food-resource/index.html) Oregon State University, Corvallis
• Postharvest Handling of Pickling Mango
• Mango  an introductory description  http://www.safari.net/~lychee/mango.htm
• Mangoes – Preparation and nutrition information – Preparation, cooking, and nutritional information for Mangoes
• Mango Botanical Description
• Subtropical/Tropical Fruits Menu  University of Florida.
• Subtropical/Tropical Fruit Crops National Agriculture Library, USA
• Market Asia – Technical Information (Postharvest and Market Guides) http://www.marketasia.org/tech
• Mango Mania! is page devoted to the king of fruits http://www.delphis.dm/mango.htm
• http://www.destinationtropicals.com/tropical_plants/plant_43.asp
• http://mangoseedling.com/culturalmgmt.html