The latest issue of "Tropical Fruit News" magazine (October 1999, vol.
33,
no. 10; published by Rare Fruit Council International, Miami, Florida,
http://www.gate.net/~tfnews) has an interesting article on mangos in
it.
The article is titled "A New Mango Reality" (pp. 2-4), and is the
transcript
of a talk by Richard Campbell (Ph.D.), the Curator of Tropical Fruit
at
Fairchild Tropical Garden in Miami, Florida.
Most of Dr. Campbell's talk was on the management practices (pruning)
that one can use to "dwarf" or at least manage the size of mango
trees.
This is an important issue in South Florida, as it continues to
urbanize.
Under favorable conditions, most mango cultivars will happily grow
into
very large trees, a problem when lot sizes are small.
Dr. Campbell also made a few interesting comments on the breeding
goals of
mangos in India. Not surprisingly, the mangos there have been bred
to withstand the local shipping practices. The result of this is
mango cultivars that don't ripen properly on the tree, and which must
(contrary to idealistic notions) be picked green and ripened off the
tree
for decent flavor.
Let me quote from the article, pp. 3-4: [Note: ellipsis (...) below
are
as in the article. My explanatory comments are in brackets [*] below.]
"...'Mallika' comes from southern India. In India they do not cold
store
their mangos (or) select for [i.e., develop] cold stored mangos. They
selected for mangos to be put in boxes and left out in the ambient
temperature [which can be very hot in southern India] and ripened up
with
sulfur three weeks after they harvest. They don't go and harvest
mangos
that break [change] color on the tree. They harvest them green and and
ripen them up, and that's what we're trying to do...If you let it
ripen
on the tree, you'll be disappointed...They'll have internal breakdown
and you'll think, 'Why did I get this tree?' But if you harvest it
early you'll really like it."
[material snipped]
"Richard harvests a few other mangos early as he does 'Mallika,'
such as 'Alphonse' and 'Allampur-Banesham,' [also cultivars from
India]
which both develop unpleasant, sour flavors if allowed to ripen on
the tree."
Tom Billings"
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