So far, more than 1,600 varieties of the fruit have been recognized worldwide. The great natural grocer of mangoes is India. There alone, it is estimated that there are more than a thousand types. The profusion of this tropical delight in Southeast Asia is no mere coincidence: everything indicates that the region is the birthplace of the mango, where the fruit has been cultivated for over 4,000 years. In the 16th century, the Portuguese took seeds from India to plant in Africa. Also by the hands of the Portuguese, the fruit arrived in Brazil around 1700. Our country was the first to cultivate mangoes in America and today occupies the ninth place in world production. Around here, some of the most popular varieties are the pink mango, the sword, the bourbon, the ubá and the tommy atkins. “Depending on the type, the fruits have very different characteristics. There are round, oval, elongated or thin sleeves, weighing between 100 grams and 2 kilos. You can suck the fibrous ones, while the soft ones are eaten with a spoon”, says agronomist João Gomes da Costa, from Embrapa Semi-Árido, in Petrolina (PE). Many people confuse the mango with some of its “relatives”. This is the case of cajá-manga or cajarana, which, despite belonging to the same family as the mango tree, is a different species of plant. The same thing goes for cashew, cajá and umbu. In nutritional terms, mangoes are a good option to complete your daily vitamin needs. “The pulp is rich in vitamins A and C. You can also get a reasonable amount of niacin and thiamine, two B-complex vitamins, and mineral salts like phosphorus”, says João.
The most planted variety in Brazil and in the world came from the United States
MANGO TOMMY ATKINS
The first plantations appeared in the 20’s, in Florida, in the United States. Today, it is the most produced variety in the world. In Brazil, where the fruit accounts for 80% of the cultivated area, the tommy is used for natural consumption and in the production of juices and ice cream
SWORD SLEEVE
This elongated and flattened variety on the sides is considered one of the oldest types in Brazil. Although the pulp represents little more than half of the weight of the fruit (peel and seed account for 43% of the total), the sword is one of the most consumed mangoes in the country due to the large production and low price.
PINK SLEEVE
Originating in Pernambuco, the most famous mango in the Northeast owes its name to the red-pink color of the skin. The rounded fruit is good for natural consumption and yields well in juices, since the pulp is equivalent to 67% of the fruit. The variety is widely sold in the Midwest and, of course, in the Northeastern capitals.
BOURBON MANGO
Excellent for natural consumption and industrialized as mango in syrup, bourbon is full of fiber and tasty. As in most other varieties, vitamin C contents are higher among unripe fruits than in ripe ones. Currently, bourbon is popular in São Paulo and produced mainly in the Midwest.
MANGO UBÁ
The name of this mango is a tribute to the city of Ubá, in Minas Gerais, where it began to be cultivated. The mango that gives rise to this type is very productive, yielding more than a thousand fruits per year. Widely used by the juice industry, ubá is one of the varieties that has high levels of vitamin C
Sources: Brazilian Mango Varieties, by Luiz Carlos Donadio (ORG.); The Culture of Mangueira, by Pedro Jaime de Carvalho Genú and Alberto Carlos de Queiroz Pinto
Acknowledgments: Carlos Jorge Rosseto, specialist in mangoes from the Instituto Agronômico de Campinas (IAC), and Carla Gomes, from the IAC press office