Mangifera indica: The king of fruits – Also grows in Sahyadri !!

Welcome back again!! Thank you very much for response given to my four blog posts! I am encouraged to post more and will continue to do so. 

Unripened Alphonso Mango

Today we will read about a fruit, which does not need any kind of introduction. This fruit is very much known to everyone, and there will be hardly anyone who does not know about this fruit.

This is not endemic to western Ghat or Sahyadri, it’s very well and wide spread in Wild as well cultivated across India, yet it remains as precious and king of fruits. One of the varieties of this fruit, planted in two specific locations in Sahyadri as Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg district of Maharashtra are registered as GI i.e. Geographical Identification…which conveys a sign used on products that have a specific geographical origin and possess qualities or a reputation that are due to that origin and such a name conveys an assurance of quality and distinctiveness which is essentially attributable to its origin in that defined geographical locality.

Yes…by the time you must, must have identified, recognized the name of fruit... its Mango...Mangifera indica. The GI is for its one of the cultivated varieties, named as “Alphonso Mango” (Marathi: Hapoos, Hāpūsa)

Unripened Alphonso Mango

This Mango satisfies humans five senses. The look, the feel, the smell, the taste, the mental, physical and the feel of aroma, softness on tongue…brings overall satisfaction. The sense of eagerness before actually eating the mango, the sense of engagement and sense of fullness…of joy, of hunger…the delicacy… chairs this wonderful creation of nature as King of Fruits… 

As per Horticultural Board of India, this is commercial crop, where India may be ranking first among world’s mango producing countries accounting for about 50% of the world’s mango production.  Other major mango producing countries include China, Thailand, Mexico, Pakistan, Philippines, Indonesia, Brazil, Nigeria and Egypt.

There is a lot and lot are written, discussed by scholars, by writers, by poets and actually by everyone… The days start with mango and end with mango... during the entire season of the fruit. It’s such a popular fruit. 

Kingdom: Plantae

Clade: Tracheophytes

Clade: Angiosperms

Clade: Eudicots

Clade: Rosids

Order: Sapindales

Family: Anacardiaceous

Genus: Mangifera

Species: M. indica

In India, this fruit has many names.

English:  Mango, Hindi: Am आम , Gujarati: Aambo આંબો, Manipuri: Heinou, Tamil: மா Ma, Telugu: Mamidi, Malayalam: Mangga, Kannada: Mavina mara, Marathi: Amba अंबा • Konkani: Ambo आंबॉ, Mizo: Theihai

As we saw, Hapus is cultivated variety, but there could by approx. 1500 varieties of mangoes in India. Again, the local climate, soil type, minerals contents of soil, atmospheric temperature and moisture levels mainly influence the taste, size, colour and delicious ness of pulp inside… hence we can find as many as varieties in India. Of all these, these are very famous and well-known varieties. Alphonso, Totapuri, Sindhura, Banginapalli, Chausa, Raspuri, Pairi, Himsagar, Neelam, Malgova, Malda, Langra, Kesar, Badami… the list is endless… you will get tired by counting the names and learning how to identify each of them… Indian market is full of all these from February -March till mid of July.. every year. Really this makes this fruit a King of Fruits…

I know I am also excited to write all above, so let’s stop here for today, and I am looking for any real mango available near by me…to enjoy the same soothing delicacy… 

So, see you again all in upcoming blog on Mango again…till then lets enjoy if we get some mango fruits… or otherwise just close the eyes… concentrate and remember the best satisfaction we have got, while eating mango…that also will give equal satisfaction…of eating and enjoying the delicacy of mango…in virtual world. Wow, so tempting.

(Source: various books and compilations)