Fruits World : Mango

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Mango (Mangifera indica L.) is also known as manga (Tamil), mangga (the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia) and manguier (French). It is one of the best-known and most widely cultivated tropical fruit species, with production occurring in most countries in the tropics and subtropics. The fruit is marketed fresh, dried and as a juice, and is used as a source of flavours, fragrances and colourants. The mango is rapidly becoming one of the leading trade crops in the tropics and subtropics. (Paul and Duarte, 2011).  As postharvest handling techniques and shipping technology have improved, consumer demand has increased. The fruit is 60–75% flesh, 11–18% skin and 14–22% seed, depending upon cultivar, with the flesh being ca. 20% dry matter. Most of the mangoes produced are marketed in the fresh state for consumption as a dessert fruit. Fruit can be eaten green, and this practice is very popular in Thailand, the Philippines and Central America, with some starchy and crispy cultivars being preferred, such as ‘Khieo Sawoey’ in Thailand. Fruit may simply be peeled and sliced. Diced pieces may be added to salads and fruit cocktails. People consume mango simply because of its pleasant taste and flavour without much thought about the content of minerals, vitamins, lipids and amino acids. However, the mango is a good to excellent source of provitamin A and is considered a fair source of vitamin C, although this varies greatly among cultivars, with a range between a low of 5 mg and as high as 142 mg/100 g of fresh material (Wenkam, 1990).