Mangoes! Rightly crowned as the King of the fruit Dynasty are the favourites of one and all. Children and elders alike love to be fondled by a bunch or two of these crownbearers of their sweet and lusciously juicy empire. There is no better substitute to quench one’s longing for sweetness than these delicious mangoes. Basically belonging to the genus Magnifera, sour, unripe mangoes are used in chutneys, athanu, pickles and side dishes, or may be eaten raw with salt, chili, or soy sauce. They are also used in preparation of mango shakes and a very famous South Asian drink called Aam Panna, especially in the summer season.
So let’s have a quick look at the top ten most varieties of mangoes in terms of the quantities consumed across the globe:
1. Alphonso
Originating in the states of Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh, the fruit is locally known as Happus, the King of the Kings. Topping the hierarchy, the Alphonso has fruits medium in size and ovate oblique in shape. Being abundantly juicy, the fruit is perfect for pulping and canning utilities and is mainly all exported with a very meagre proportion being consumed within the country. Its bright sunny orange and yellow colours make it even more tempting to the eyes of its admirers. Generally with an excellent keeping quality, the flesh develops a spongy tissue if stored for longer intervals. It is also widely used for making juices, nectars, drinks, jams, puddings, bakery fillings, food flavours, ice creams, flavoured yogurt and confectionery. And what’s more? The fruity delight comes packed with a high nutritive value, wider adaptability and enormous viability. Being enormously juicy, it has an excellent sweet aroma and a fibreless flesh.
2. Himsagar
Himsagar is a variety of mango native of West Bengal, Odisha and Bihar, generally a sunlit yellow in colour and with a beautiful medium sized ovate fruit. It is an early season variety with a less amount of fibre in the pulp and a good keeping quality. It is popularly used for table purposes and has a tangy but sweet and sugary taste, sweeter than most other counterparts. The texture of the fruit is melt in the mouth, smooth and comparatively less chewy. The smell of the mangoes is very pleasant, and can be experienced from outside the skin itself without being required to be peeled.
3. Kesar
A fruity delicacy available largely early in the season from the state of Gujarat, Kesar is commonly known as the queen of mangoes because of its unique taste and its rich smooth pulp and derives its name by a red blush on its shoulders. The mango is medium oblong and has a good keeping quality, thus being able to be stored for long. It has a very rich pulp and is therefore ideal for pulping and juice concentrates. Oblong in shape, delightfully flavourful, Kesar is a medium sized mango generally used for table purpose. It is used popularly for table purpose and for making pulp, juice, nectars, squashes, jams, concentrates, et cetera. It is characterizes by its golden colour and green overtones. This variety of mangoes is known to contain rich elements like calcium, phosphorous, iron, potash magnesium, protein, carbohydrates and vitamins like A and C and is said to have low saturated fat.
4. Sindhu
It is a hybrid variety of mango, developed by crossbreeding Alphonso and Neelam or backcrossing Ratna with Alphonso, in the state of Maharashtra at Konkan Krishi Vidyapith. Sindhu derives its name from the hindi synonym of the ancient holy river namely, Indus. It is currently being cultivated in Maharashtra and the Konkan region and has a rich pulp like its parent varieties. It has a high yielding dwarf type with medium sized fruits. The pulp is fibreless and free from any kind of spongy tissue and a very thin and small stone. It possesses the plus qualities of both the parents. This types are best eaten raw, or while just short of full-ripe stage.
5. Bangalora
Natively known as Totapuri, it is grown in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. The fruits are medium or large in size with an oblong shape and a pointed base with a vibrant and bright, flame like golden yellow colour. It is due to this pointed beak-like curved shape of the fruit that brought it the name Totapuri, verbally similar to the Devnagri synonym of Parrot. It has a good keeping quality but is susceptible to bacterial spot. It is majorly used for processing purposes.
6. Banganapalli
Alias Safeda, Began Phali and Baneshan, the Banganapalli mango is named after the city of Banganapalle in Tamil Nadu. The fruit has an obliquely oval shape appealing to the eyes of its fans making them to never to get satisfied with a single serving. The flesh is firm and sweet in taste with an amazing yellow colour to complement its attraction. It has a less fibrous texture. It is a mid-season variety that is good for being preserved by canning.
7. Samarbehisht Chausa
This variety has an amazing taste and flavour, and thus is a favourite of kids and elders alike. Having a large fruit, the Chausa derives its name because of its innate quality of being consumed by squeezing instead of being sliced or chopped. Sown popularly in Uttar Pradesh and Punjab, it is ovate to oval oblique in shape with an extremely sweet taste. It has a lavishly fibrous flesh and has a moderate in-storage lifespan. It is an alternate bearing variety as well that shows apical dominance. It is majorly used for table and processing purposes because of its rich pulp.
8. Langra
Mouth wateringly aromatic, the Langra is grown in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, West Bengal and Punjab and is consumed within the contours of the country, along with being exported. The fruits are ovate in shape and lettuce green in colour with a medium size. It has a poor in-storage life and thus the taste and quality deteriorates with a long refridgeration. The trees are vigorous and spreading and bear fruits in alternate seasons which are mostly used for table purposes.
9. Dashehari
Majorly cultivated in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Punjab, Dashehari is one of the best of its kind in the country, and has small and medium sized fruits. It is elongated in shape with a yellow colour at large. The pulp of the fruit is fibreless and has a long storage life. It is mainly used for table purposes but is also susceptible to mango malformation and thus requires proper refrigeration and storage conditions. The species has been cloned to a regular fruit bearing and yielding clone of Dashehari-51.
10. Bombay
Having a pale green and a yellow or a brownish yellow skin, the Bombay basically originated in Jamaica. The fruit has a pretty green colour with a little red blush to highlight its magical appearance. These mangoes are absolutely fibreless and have a dark orange flesh with a rich and spicily describable flavour. It grows on trees that are vigorous and form canopies and is described as being very sweet. In the South Asian subcontinent, Bombay mango is used for making chutneys and pickles because of its extremely sweet taste and a rather strong texture.