THE GREEN THAI MANGOES
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Mangifera indica
FAMILY: Anacardiaceae
Here in Australia, we view the mango as a fruit to be eaten when soft and ripe, dripping with fragrant juice.
In parts of Asia, particularly Thailand, selected mangoes are more often eaten green as "mamuang mun", which translates as "delicious green mango". Up to the present time, the Australian/Asian community have been largely unable to satisfy their appetite for superior Asian green-eating cultivars, as the only mango you're likely to find in the greengrocers is a Bowen, also known as Kensington Pride mango. The Kensington Pride mangoes make up more than 90% of the mangoes grown and sold in Australia, and are also well-accepted on the export market.
There are two main Thai varieties available in Australia at present, "Keow Savoey" (pronounced - Cow SarWay) and Nam Dokmai (Nam Dok-My). Keow Savoey is the premier green-eating fruit of Thailand. It is delicious, being somewhat similar to a crisp, juicy, aromatic, granny smith apple. Peeled with a vegetable peeler and eaten out of hand, it is utterly delicious.
In Thailand, Nam Dokmai is not eaten green, but is the preferred ripe-eating fruit. It is certainly delicious when ripe - sweet, aromatic, creamy and completely fibreless. In Australia, it has evolved that green Nam Dokmai are eagerly sought by South Vietnamese. Australian/Asian buyers have previously bought a mixture of varieties as green-eating fruit, but it would appear now that Nam Dokmai and Keow Savoey are the preferred types.
Landholders considering entering the green-eating mango industry should consider the following advantages:
1. Very little crop loss to fruit fly, birds, or flying foxes, as the fruit is picked green mature and is therefore less attractive to these pests.
2. Excellent price - Asian buyers are currently (1994-1995 season) paying $2 per kilo for green Nam Dokmai fruit. These same buyers are keenly awaiting availability of Keow Savoey fruit in commercial quantities and anticipate the price will be at least equal to that offered for Nam Dokmai.
Although Australian commercial plantings of Nam Dokmai and Keow Savoey are limited, they are known to bear from Cape Tribulation (north of Cairns) to Nambour (southeast Queensland), also at Walkamin and Mareeba on the Atherton Tablelands and Murwillumbah in northern New South Wales.
Brooks, also known as "Brooks Late" is also a variety worthy of consideration, as it is the last cultivar to mature, and is therefore available long after the seasonal glut of Kensington Pride mangoes is finished.
Brooks is a heavy, consistent cropper, bearing green-yellow fruit with sweet and juicy orange flesh, and could be of importance in the hospitality industry as a prepared, sliced fruit. Brooks is resistant to anthracnose and black spot.
It is meaningful to note the importance of planting grafted trees rather than seedlings. Almost the entire Kensington Pride industry is based on seedling trees and this has led to enormous variation between one Bowen mango and the next. The enormous number of Kensington Pride trees now bearing in Australia has made it possible for buyers to become very fussy, and it would appear that in future years this trend will continue.
Very good prices are also being obtained for "R2E2", a cultivar developed at the Bowen Horticultural Research Station and released in 1991. R2E2 fruit are very large (800 grams average weight), yellow-green with an orange-red blush. The flesh is lemon yellow, sweet and mild and very low in fibre.
Selective planting of a range of different cultivars, including both early and late varieties can extend the mango season up to 15 weeks' duration.
DATE: January 1996
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