Page 283 - FRUTAS DEL TRÓPICO

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MANGO (Mangifera indica L.)

Botany: The mango belongs to the family Anacardiaceae, to which the cashew, pistachio, and

Spondias spp. (ambarella, jobo and jocote) also belong. The mango originated in southeast Asia,

possibly on the island of Borneo, where numerous other species of Mangifera grow naturally.

The mango’s breeding system is based on self-incompatibility, and flowers of both sexes

occur in the same inflorescence. To ensure adequate production of fruit it is desirable that

trees of different compatibility genotypes be set near each other in the field, but in Central

America this usually is not a serious factor in reducing crop size.

Economic importance: The mango is one of the most important fruits in the world, co-

ming after grapes, citrus fruits and apples in production. Mango fruit is a dependable source of

carotene (vitamin A) and ascorbic acid (vitamin C), and also contains natural sugars, fiber, cal-

cium, phosphorus, iron, thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, tryptophan, methionine and lysine (Mor-

ton, 1987). World mango production in 2005 reached 27 966 749 metric tons (mt), with

Mexico’s production amounting to 5.4% of the total. India, with 38% of the world total, pro-
duced the largest quantity of mango fruit. Other important producers are China, with 13.1%

of the world total, Thailand (6.4%), Indonesia (5.3%), the Philippines (3.4), and Brazil (3.0%).

Production figures changed since 1961 when India produced 64.1% of the world crop

of 10.9 million metric tons (mt), of which Brazil produced 6.0% and Mexico 1.6%, to a 2005

Universidad Autónoma de Chiapas