Mango is one of the popular fruits in the world due to its attractive color, delicious taste and excellent nutritional properties. Known for its sweet fragrance and flavor, the mango has delighted the senses for more than 4000 years. A celebrated fruit, mango, now produced in most of the tropical parts of the globe.

Sunday, August 26, 2012

Botany of mango

Mango (M. indica L) is an important fruit tree of the tropical and subtropical regions of the world.

Mango (M. indica L) belongs to the family Anacardiaceae, also known as the cashew family, with about 75 genera and 700 species, mostly tropical, with some subtropical and temperate species.

The genus Mangifera consists of 69 species but not all bear edible fruit. The mango fruit is large, fleshy and sometime fibrous.

The edible flesh is yellowish to orange and fibrous or free of fibers.

There are hundreds of varieties in mango, out of which only some are of commercial importance. The commercial varieties of mango, although having a wide range of adaptability, are specific to different sets of climatic factors.

Mango cultivars fall into two broad categories: mono-embryonic and poly-embryonic. Almost all the commercial cultivars of M. indica are mono-embryonic whereas, the poly-embryonic cultivars are about a dozen only and much inferior in fruit size and quality.
Botany of mango

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