The number of varieties of mango found in India is great. In fact, there are too many varieties. The number of commercial varieties is estimated at over 1,000. In most other countries the commercial varieties are poly-embryonic. For example, the famous varieties Cambodiana, Carabao, Piko and Victoria from South-East Asia and the Philippines are poly-embryonic.
In these varieties, several seedlings with independent root-systems arise from each seed. Only one of these is the result of sexual union between the male and the female parts of the flowers. This seedling gives plants different from the mother-tree. All other seed-lings arise from the tissue of the mother-plant.
The new plants arising from them give fruits exactly like those of the mother-tree. Under these conditions, plants are raised from seed and vegetative propagation is not required. Almost all Indian varieties are mono-embryonic giving only one sexual seedling from each seed.
In order to raise true-to-type plants from a tree, vegetative propagation is necessary. In India only ten poly-embroyonic varieties are found on the West Coast. These are Olour, Goa, Salem, Chandar Karan, Bellary, Bappakai, Kurukkan, Mazagaon, Nileshwar Dwarf and Mulepalium. Climate seems to influence this character and the variety Mulgoba, which behaves as mono-embryonic in India, has been reported to be poly-embryonic in Florida, in the U.S.A.
In the past mango was propagated generally from seed. On account of the formation of the seed as a result of cross-pollination, i.e., the fusion of the female cell of the flowers with the male pollen from other trees, every tree raised from a seedling is potentially a new type.
This has resulted in the accumulation of large variety of types with rich and varied tastes, colour of fruit and other characters. Vegetative propagation during the past two hundred years has helped to preserve these different types. Gardening during this period was the avocation of the aristocracy, who built up huge collections of varieties
The “Lakh Bag” near Darbhanga in Bihar, which was planted by the Moghul Emperor Akbar and had one lakh (1, 00,000) varieties, is a case in point. Ain-e-Akbari, the memoirs of this Emperor, published in 1590, provides the first record of the Indian varieties. Nurserymen have also tried to impress customers with their large collections of varieties.
They have ascribed all kinds of fanciful attributes to their varieties. This has led to great confusion and some varieties have acquired many synonyms. For example, the Alphonso of Bombay is also called Hafus, Aapus, and Badami in different places. Peter, Peter Pasand and Pairi are the same variety and so are Collector, Bangalore and Totapuri.
Banganpalli, Baneshan, Safeda (in Delhi) and Chapta are synonyms of the same variety. The same name is often used for different varieties. For example, the name Malda is used for Fazli in Calcutta and for Bombay Green in U.P.
The Safeda of Lucknow and Malihabad in U.P. is different from the Baneshan of Andhra Pradesh which sells in Delhi under the same name. Several workers have published descriptions of important mangoes of India and have tried to remove this confusion.
A large number of mangoes in India are of the juicy type used for sucking. Most of these are seed-propagated and thus do not belong to established varieties. Only a few sucking types belong to well-established varieties and are vegetatively propagated. These include Raspunia, Mithwa Sundershah, Mithwa Ghazipur, Hardil Aziz and Lucknow Safeda of U.P, Chinna Rasam, Cherukurasam and Pedda Rasam of Andhra Pradesh and Rajapuri of Gujarat.
Most of the established varieties are, however, of the table type which have firm fibreless pulp and which can be cut with a knife. These Indian mangoes are of excellent quality and there is hardly any fruit to compare with them. The only character requiring improvement in these varieties is the presence of a rather large single stone.
Mango hybrid with papery seed has recently been developed at Fruit Research Station, Vengurle. Seedless Dashehari, which bears regularly fruits of medium size with a thin papery stone, presence of doublet and triplet fruits which are parthenocarpic and completely seedless do occur as reported from I.A.R.I. New Delhi.
However, in varieties like Langra and Dashehari, the stone is quite small. The varieties are localised in their distribution. Some like the Langra which grows not only all over North India but also in Gujarat, are climatically more adaptable. Pairi, Totapuri, Mulgoba and its hybrids are also grown in Hawaii and Florida.
Of the numerous varieties, the following are important:
1. Northern and Eastern India:
(a) Uttar Pradesh and Punjab:
(i) Dashehari:
It is an outstanding mid-season variety of delicate taste. The flesh is fibreless. The fruit is elongated, dull yellow and medium-sized. The tree is rather small. It is an outstanding mid-season variety of moderate bearing and a somewhat regular bearing habit. It is good for canning and cold storage. It also has a good keeping quality.
(ii) Langra:
It is a well-established mid-season variety of U.P., Bihar and the Punjab. It also grows on the banks of the river Narmada in Gujarat. The fruit is greenish, medium sized, roundish-oval, the pulp is very sweet and the stone very thin. The skin is thin and the keeping quality poor.
It takes longer to come to full bearing, but eventually the trees are large, especially in the sub-montane tracts, and the yield is phenomenal after about thirty years. It is highly alternate-bearing. Benarsi Langra, Langra Hardoi and Langra Hajipur and some other strains have been mentioned, but all of them seem to be alike.
(iii) Bombay Green:
It is also called MaIda in U. P. and Sehroli in Delhi. Bombay Yellow is identical with this variety except that it develops a yellowish colour near the shoulders. It is an obliquely elongated fruit of green colour, having a very sweet taste and strong flavour. It is an early variety, which take a little longer time to come to full bearing and seems to be very susceptible to malformation. The bearing is good and the keeping quality moderate.
(iv) Samarbehisht Chausa or Khajri:
It is a moderately large fruit of extreme sweetness. It is a late variety of soft yellow colour. Its shape is characterised by the almost straight line formed by the beak and the apex. The bearing is moderate and alternate and the flesh is somewhat fibrous.
Other important varieties of this area are Gulab Khas, Fajri Zafrani, Khas-ul-Khas, and Krishan Bhog among the mid-season group, Taimuriya among the late group and Gopalbhog and Zardalu among the early group. Rataul is an early variety with a small, but exceedingly sweet fruit. It has not spread due to its low yield.
(b) Bihar:
Bombai is an early variety which is called Malda in Bengal. The fruit is ovate, medium-sized and yellow. Its fruit quality and bearing is good, but it is highly alternate-bearing and its keeping quality is rather poor.
Gulab Khas is another early variety with elongated fruit, an attractive red blush and an excellent keeping quality. The fruit after storage for some days shrivels instead of rotting. The bearing is good and somewhat regular and the fruit quality is good.
Himsagar has medium-sized ovate fruit of yellow colour and good fruit quality. The bearing is fairly heavy and the keeping quality good. It is a mid-season variety which is also important in Bengal.
Krishnabhog is a mid-season variety, which originated in Bengal. The fruit is medium-sized, roundish-oblique, yellowish and of a fair keeping quality. The fruit quality is good and the bearing heavy.
Fazli is also called Malda and is a late variety with a large oblique, green fruit. The bearing is good and somewhat regular. The pulp is fibreless but of a mediocre quality and moderately good keeping quality.
Sukul is a late variety of Bihar. It bears heavily, has a good keeping quality, but the fruit quality is mediocre. The fruit is largish, oblong-oblique and yellow.
Other important varieties of Bihar are Langra and Bharatbhog (mid-season varieties), Sepia and Bathua (late varieties) and Mithua, Zardalu and Khas-ul-khas (choice varieties).
(c) Bengal:
Bombai Bhutto:
It is a medium-sized ovate-oblique fruit of yellowish colour. The fruit quality is very good, but not the keeping quality. It is an important mid-season variety of Bengal.
Other important varieties of Bengal are Bombai (Malda), Langra, Fazli, Shadwala (Shadulla) and Himsagar.
2. Western India:
(i) Alphonso:
It is also known as Hafus, Aapus, Badami, Gundu, Khader and Patnam Jathi. It is one of the best varieties of India and thrives best in a humid coastal climate. It is believed to have originated in Goa.
It has excellent fruit and keeping qualities. It is very suitable for canning and cold storage. The fruit is medium-sized, ovate-oblique and capuchin yellow in colour. It is one of the few varieties exported from India, regular bearing variety, which often gives two crops in a year.
(ii) Pairi:
It is also called Peter, Yerra Goa, Nadusalai, Grape, Peter Pasand, Gohabunder and Raspuri. It is an important commercial variety of Western India, though the fruit quality is much inferior to that of Alphonso. It has also been introduced into Hawaii.
It is popular in South India and thrives better in humid areas. The medium-sized ovate fruit has a prominent red blush and is very attractive. It is an early variety with heavy but alternate bearing. The keeping quality is fair.
(iii) Fernandin:
It is an important late variety of the West Coast of India. It is the oldest variety in the Konkan area and is believed to have originated in Goa. The medium to large-sized oval fruit with a yellow skin has very good quality and bears heavily.
The other important varieties of this area are Cowasji Patel, a large-sized fruit used for making preserves, etc. Borsha of Karamsad, which has spread from Gujarat to the interior areas upto Hyderabad, Jamadar, an important variety of Gujarat which is believed to be a seedling of Alphonso and Kesar, and Salebhoy Amdi are the high-quality varieties of Gujarat.
3. Southern India:
(a) Tamil Nadu:
(i) Bangalore:
It is also called Totapuri, Collector, Sundersha, Gilli Mukku and Thevadiyamuthi. The extremely oblique, greenish fruit with a bright red blush is easy to recognise. The fruit is of poor quality, but is commercially very important due to heavy and regular bearing and an excellent keeping quality. For transport it is often loaded loose in railway wagons. The fruits are sometimes affected by the mango-stone weevil.
(ii) Neelam or Kaja Laddu:
It is a late, high-yielding and regular bearing variety, which often gives two crops in a year. The small ovate-oblique, yellow fruit is of a fair quality and is a very good keeper.
(ii) Rumani:
This variety is important due to its high yield and good keeping quality. The apple-shaped fruit is yellow coloured with a red blush on the shoulders. The fruit quality is moderately good, but if it is harvested even slightly early, the fruit remains sour. It sometimes bears a small second crop.
Raspuri or Pairi is also grown in this area.
(b) Andhra Pradesh:
(i) Banganpalli:
It is also called Baneshan, Chapta, Chaptai and Safeda in North India, where it is sold regularly. The large sized obliquely-oval fruit of yellow colour has good fruit quality as well as keeping quality. The bearing is heavy and mid-season. It does well in dry areas.
(ii) Mulgoba:
This late variety is popular in the interior dry areas of Peninsular India. The large, roundish-oblique, yellow fruit is of good quality and is very suitable for making preserves and has a good keeping quality. Its yield is somewhat poor.
(iii) Suvaranrekha:
It is also called Chinnasuvarnarekha and Sundari or Sandhuri in the Delhi market. It is a very early variety of coastal Andhra Pradesh, which is spreading to other areas. It has a fairly good fruit quality and a good keeping quality and is exported to North Indian markets. The bearing is heavy. The medium-sized ovate-oblong fruit is green with a prominent red blush on the shoulders.
Other good varieties like Allampur Baneshan, Jehangir and Himayudin are not important due to their poor yield despite their excellent fruit quality.
An ideal mango variety should have a dwarf tree, attractive fruit colour, medium size, good fruit quality, small stone, fiber less fresh and high keeping and transport quality. It should also be precocious and regular in bearing, highly tolerant to various diseases including malformation and pests.
None of the existing varieties possesses all these characters. In regular bearing varieties the shoots which emerge as late as October are capable of flowering and fruiting in the following year. On the other hand biennial varieties generally do not produce any new flush of growth after the harvest and even if some growth is produced it is incapable of flowering and fruiting in the following season.
Several new varieties have been evolved in India in the recent past.
These are:
i. Dashehari 51:
It is a superior clone, chance selection of Dashehari from C.I.S.H., Lucknow bears good crop every year with no “off” bearing rhythm. High productivity, improved fruit size and quality and negligible malformation.
A clonal selection from Rewa, Madhya Pradesh.
iii. Subhash:
A chance seeding selection of ‘Zardalu’ from B.A.C. Sabour (Bihar) fruit is like Langra, medium size (220 g, 10.0 x 7.7 cm), attractive yellow fruit colour of Zardalu and sweet taste (24.0% T.S.S. and 0.29% acidity).
iv. Menaka:
A chance seeding selection of ‘Gulabkhas’ from B.A.C. Sabour (Bihar) having attractive red blush on basal side of fruit on yellow background, medium fruit size (300 g), pulp firm and sweet (20.0% T.S.S.), late maturity, good keeping quality.
v. Niranjan:
Selection from private garden of Nizam of Hyderabad in Aurangabad (Maharashtra) having regular bearing, off season flowering (June-July) and fruit harvested in October. Fruit medium (200 g), are similar to Langra, sweet with pleasant flavour.
vi. Pusa Surya:
An introduced “Eldon” cultivar of U.S.A. from Brazil, released after evaluation with popular name “Surya” from I.A.R.I., New Delhi. Semi-vigorous plant growth, regular bearing, medium fruit size (240 g), golden yellow with attractive red colouration on ventral shoulders, pulp firm, sweet (T.S.S, 18.5%), good shelf life.
(B) Hybrid Varieties:
Hybridization work initiated in several states has yielded some promising varieties.
North India:
i. Mallika (Neelum x Dashehari) – Evolved at I.A.R.I., New Delhi. Tree semi-vigorous, heavy bearer, attractive large fruit (300 to 500 g), high pulp (75%) content, pulp is firm, fibreless, high T.S.S. (24°Brix), fruits ripen by 3rd week of July, good keeping quality. This hybrid has now been taken as a commercial cultivar in parts of South India.
ii. Amrapali (Dashehari x Neelum) – Evolved at I.A.R.I., New Delhi. Dwarf, precocious, highly regular and prolific bearing, fruit small to medium (120 to 160 g), fibreless, excellent taste with high T.S.S. (22.8°Brix), late ripening (3rd week of July), suitable for high density planting. High carotenoid (16830 mg/100 g pulp) content, pulp can be used as colour additive for juice of other mango varieties.
iii. Pusa Arunima (Amrapali x Sensation) – Developed at I.A.R.I., New Delhi. Semi-vigorous plant growth, regular bearing, medium fruit size (250 g), thick peel, attractive red shoulders on yellow background (attractive red colour), sweet, long shelf-life (14 to 16 days) at room temperature, T.S.S. (18.5%), acidity (0.22%), b carotene content (14220 mg/100 g pulp), suitable for export.
iv. Ambika (Amrapali x Janardhan Pasand) – Developed at Central Institute for Subtropical Horticulture, Lucknow, fruits having yellow colour with red blush, firm flesh and scanty fibre, are potential for export and domestic markets.
v. Gaurav (Dashehari x Totapan Hyderabad) – From Horticulture Experiment-cum-Training Centre (H.E.T.C.), Saharanpur, (U.P.) are regular bearer, mid-July ripening, fibreless, T.S.S. (21.3%), good keeping quality.
vi. Rajiv (Dashehari x Romani) – From H.E.T.C., Saharanpur (U.P.) are regular bearer, fruit ripens 3rd week of July, fruits like Romani, medium size, pulp soft, fibreless, flavour of slight terpentine, T.S.S. (18.3 %), typically acidic sweet, suitable for processing.
vii. Saurabh (Dashehari x Fazl. – Zafrani) – From H.E.T.C., Saharanpur (U.P.) are regular bearer, ripens mid-July, large sized fruit, fruit weight (260 g), T.S.S. (21.3%).
South India:
i. Arka Aruna (Banganpalli x Alphonso) – Evolved at Indian Institute of Horticultural Research (I.I.H.R.), Bangalore. Dwarf, regular bearing, large (500 to 750 g) and attractive fruits with red blush, high pulp content, fibreless, and free from spongy tissue disorder.
ii. Arka Puneet (Alphonso x Banganpalli) – Evolved at I.I.H.R,, Bangalore. Tree is vigorous, regular and prolific bearing, peel attractive (capucine yellow, red blush), Pulp content high (75%), fibreless, high T.S.S. (21.0° Brix), free from spongy tissue disorder.
iii. Arka Neelikiran (Alphonso x Neelum) – From I.I.H.R., Bangalore. Tree is semi-vigorous and regular bearer, pulp orange in colour, late maturity, free from spongy tissue disorder.
iv. Arka Anmol (Alphonso x Janardhan Pasand) – From I.I.H.R., Bangalore. Tree is medium-vigorous, regular and prolific bearing, fruit long and medium (250 g) with uniform yellow peel, pulp colour orange, high T.S.S. (20° Brix) content, keeping quality of fruit excellent, free from spongy tissue disorder and suitable for export.
v. Au Rumani (Rumani x Neelun) – Evolved at Fruit Research Station, Sangareddy (Andhra Pradesh). Tree is medium vigorous, heavy yielder, fruit large (450 g), peel smooth, yellow cadmium, pulp moderately firm, fibreless and good flavour.
vi. Manjeera (Rumani x Neelum) – From F.R.S., Sangareddy (A.P.). Dwarf, regular bearing, suitable for planting close planting (about 500 trees per hectare). Fruit is large (300 to 350 g) and attractive.
vii. PKM-1 (Chinnasuvarnarekha x Neelum) – Evolved at Fruit Research Station, Periyakulam (Tamil Nadu). This is regular and cluster bearer and heavy yielder. Fruit is sweet with high T.S.S. content.
viii. PKM-2 (Neelum x Mulgoa) – From Fruit Research Station, Periyakulam (Tamil Nadu). Regular bearer with excellent fruit quality.
East India:
i. Alfazli (Alphonso x Fazali) – Evolved at Bihar Agricultural College (B.A.C.), Sabour. Tree tall and regular bearer, fruit medium to large, abundant pulp, moderate T.S.S. and acidity, good keeping quality Alfazli fruit has characteristics similar to ‘Fazali’ but matures earlier.
ii. Jawahar (Gulabkhas x Mahmudbahar) – From B.A.C., Sabour. Tree is semi-dwarf, precocious and regular bearer, mid-season maturity, high T.S.S. (22.5%) and medium acidity.
iii. Safari (Gulabkhas x Bombai) – From B.A.C., Sabour, improvement of Bombai with red blush on the base. Fruit medium (153 g) with abundant pulp.
iv. Sunder Langra (Langra x Sunder Pasand) – From B.A.C., Sabour. Tree is semi-vigorous and spreading, regular and moderate bearing. Fruit is medium (240 g) similar to Langra with red blush on the base, abundant pulp, moderate T.S.S. and acidity.
West India:
i. Neeleshan (Neelum x Baneshan) – Evolved at Agricultural Experiment Station, Paria (Gujarat). Tree is dome-shaped, moderate, growth and bearing. Late fruit maturity (2nd week of July), fruit medium (318 g) and oval, suitable for table use keeping quality very good.
ii. Neeleshwari (Neelum x Dashehari) – From Agricultural Experiment Station, Paria (Gujarat) tree dwarf, bearing moderate and late (2nd week of July). Fruit medium (228 g) and long with prominent sinus, fruit quality very good.
iii. Neelphanso (Neelum x Alphonso) – From Agricultural Experiment Station, Paria (Gujarat). Tree is moderately Vigorous, moderately regular, late fruit maturity, fruit quality excellent, highly suited for table and juice purposes.
iv. Konkan Ruchi (Neelum x Alphonso) – Evolved at Regional Fruit Research Station, Vengurle (Maharashtra). Regular bearing, high yield, fruit large (430 g) with thick and high pulp (78%) recovery, high acidity (3.20%), pickles made of excellent quality in terms of colour, flavour, texture, taste and shelf-life.
v. Ratna (Neelum x Alphonso) – Evolved at F.R.S., Vengurle (Maharashtra). Regular bearing, fruit qualities are very good, T.S.S (23.8° Brix), acidity (0.25%), sweet and pleasant flavour. Free from spongy tissue disorder.
vi. Sindhn (Ratna x Alphonso) – From Fruit Research Station, Vengurle (Maharashtra). Tree is semi-vigorous, regular bearing, fruit medium size (215 g) with attractive red peel, virtually seedless and free from spongy tissue.
All these new cultivars have not become popular. Only some of them have gained commercial recognition. Mallika from IARI, New Delhi and Ratna from Vengurle (Maharashtra).
Further, cultivar Sindhu evolved through intensive backcrossing between Ratna x Alphonso is the perhaps first of its kind in which every fruit develops parthenocarpically under natural temperature. Parthenocarpy in mango is uncommon. In nature, parthenocarpic fruits in mango are reported to be much inferior and undersized as compared to seeded fruits.
Alphonso, Kesar, Gulabkhas, Safdar Pasand, Lakhan Bhog varieties of mango have been found to be suitable for export. The physical characters like colour, fruit weight and pulp percentage of Gulabkhas and Lakhan Bhog are very suitable for export. Even though the variety Lakhan Bhog has high acidity and slightly low T.S.S, its shelf life is very good (16 to 18 days).