Mango (Mangifera indica)
ANACARDIACEAE, Sumac Family
The mango (Mangifera indica) is now one of the most popular and widespread of tropical trees with sweet fruits, and common these days in California markets. This fruit tree is believed to have been native to the border region of India and Burma. Mango use dates at least 4000 years ago in India and 2500 years ago in Southeast Asia, and the fruit has been venerated in the Hindu religion. From Southeast Asia, the Portuguese introduced mango to Brazil during the early 1700s, and its cultivation spread then to the West Indies. This species does not tolerate freezing temperatures, so mango trees can only be grown in warm tropical to subtropical climates. In Mexico, for example, mango is grown south of the Tropic of Cancer. Under tropical temperatures, the typical flush of growth has 10 to 12 fully expanded leaves, and a growth flush may occur approximately once per month, whereas flushing is slower and contains fewer leaves at lower temperatures. Driving through a tropical countryside, such as in Mexico, one can often see mango trees, which are very large, full, tall, dark green plants with fruits that hang on chain-like inflorescences, called panicles. Each chain usually has only one fruit.
Mango is polygamo-monoecious, meaning that it has bisexual flowers and unisexual female flowers on a single tree. During a good year, a tree can produce 600 fruits; however, crop quality fluctuates from year to year, so that in the year following a good crop, there are relatively few fruits. Such "alternate bearing" or "biennial bearing" usually is attributable to a major fluctuation in carbohydrate reserves, and by adjusting fertilizer application, yearly production can be evened out in some crops. A large carbohydrate depletion factor is believed responsible for alternate bearing in mango. In mango, a crop with very low orchard efficiency, investigators have shown that a single fruit requires about 50 leaves for its development, and even then still requires some carbohydrate influx from roots and main stems, so when a heavy crop uses up most of the reserves, the plant cannot produce a heavy crop until reserves are replenished.
The fruit is a drupe, which has a yellowish, often red-blushed exocarp, an orange-yellow mesocarp, and a hard endocarp (stone) that is covered by tough fibers. The fleshy portion is cut away from the fibers. Inside the stone may be one seed, as in most Indian cultivars, or several embryos, as in most mango cultivars of Southeast Asia.
Mango is a sweet fruit that is also heavily flavored by terpenoids, particularly monoterpenes, which are produced in resin ducts within the mesocarp. The chemicals in this plant may be very irritating to persons who are allergic to poison ivy (Toxicodendron), also a member of the Anacardiaceae. The unique flavor of the fruit is enjoyed for dessert, and each day mother sends the children out to pick up the fruits that have fallen from the tree. Some mangoes are used for cooking, and this fruit is a crucial ingredient in authentic chutneys for Indian curries.