Giant 3-kg Mangoming mango, anyone?
AGIANT mango that weighs more than 3-kilogram (kg) a piece? The gigantic mango caught the attention of President Marcos Jr. himself at the exhibit of researches and innovations at the recent National Science and Technology Week (NSTW). The incident likewise brought it in the public eye.
The mango, named “Mangoming,” is actually a Guinness Book of World Records holder from 2009 to March 2020 for being the Biggest Mango weighing 3.435 kg.
Owned by Maria Socorro M. Bodiongan from Iligan City, it was exibited at the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development (PCAARRD) booth at the NSTW.
Its name Mangoming was derived by Bodiongan from two words, mango and mine, said Carolyn E. Alcasid of the Institute of Plant Breeding of the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB-IPB) told the Businessmirror.
“It is her form of endearment and belongingness to the tree,” Alcasid said, adding that the mango tree inherently bears huge fruits.
“There were no special treatments that were done,” to make it bear big fruits, she explained.
According to Alcasid, there are more than 1,500 recipients of Mangoming seedlings that Bodiongan gave away across the country.
However, there is no data yet on its volume of harvest because “most of the planting materials are not yet in reproductive stage,” Alcasid said.
Mangoming mango, besides being big, has red blush skin, high edible portion, very good eating quality. It was evaluated at UPLBIPB and released as new DA-NSIC mango variety last November 21, 2018.
Its tree is more than 25 years. It is 10 meters tall and has a spreading growth habit. The tree bears fruits twice a year with a peak of fruiting from June to July and from December to January.
“The tree was very vigorous, yielding more than 100 kg of fruits in one fruiting season,” the DOSTPCAARRD said.
The ellipsoid fruit has an average fruit weight of 1,275.39g and a yellowish green peel with attractive red blush on the fruit shoulder.
Its yellow orange pulp is firm, very juicy and has low to moderate fibers. It has high edible portion (84.77 percent) and very good eating quality. Fruits can be consumed as fresh and ideal for processing.
‘Manila Super Mango’
WHAT is the situation of the country’s mango industry? President Marcos Jr.’s having been attracted with the giant mango put to the fore the researches being made to improve the varieties of mangoes in the country in order to develop the industry.
PCAARRD Executive Director Reynaldo Ebora told the Businessmirror in an online interview that President Marcos was very supportive of research and development in agriculture, and has shown great interest in crops, livestock and aquatic resources.
“He had a lot of questions regarding the exhibits [at NSTW] particularly the longline technology for mussels and oysters, egg production by Itik Pinas and crop breeding,” Ebora said.
“I also informed him [Marcos] that he is actually a member of the PCAARRD Governing Council, being the DA Secretary,” Ebora added.
Mango is recognized as the country’s national fruit. It is hailed as among the sweetest.
The mango industry is one of the backbone industries of the country’s agriculture sector. It ranks third as the most important fruit crop in terms of volume of production and area after banana and pineapple.
The Philippines and Thailand supply most of the Southeast Asian market, the PCAARRD said in a document.
“Carabao” mango, the country’s only export variety, is one of the best varieties in the world.
It is known all over the world as “Manila Super” mango with its distinct taste and nutritional value, putting it above any other mango varieties worldwide, PCA ARRD said.
Alcasid told the Businessmirror that the Philippines’ carabao mango, that includes the popular Guimaras mango, is among the “sweetest mango in the world.”
However, despite high production and the good climatic conditions to produce mango fruits allyear round, the carabao mango’s export potential have some challenges, such as small land holdings resulting in inconsistency in quality, low percentage of exportable quality production and short shelf life.
Thus, researches are needed to increase the yield, reduce postharvest losses and enhance the capability of mango growers on Integrated Crop Management, Postharvest Quality Management and Good Agricultural Practices.
At this level comes the initiatives of the DOST-PCAARRD for Industry Strategic S&T Program for Mango.
The program, “Enhancing the Competitiveness of Philippine Carabao Mango through Varietal Improvement” identified new promising mango varieties and selections.
It aims to identify carabao mangoes with target traits—such as red blush, thick peel and resistance to anthracnose (a fungal disease of plants causing dark lesion) and fruit fly.
Characteristics of varieties, selections
THE program has facilitated the registration of two carabao mango varieties—mangoming and “Farrales”—to the National Seed Industry Counci (NSIC).
Led by Alcasid, the program also identified carabao mango selections with proposed names “Kyla Luz,” “Tommy Atkins,” “Carotene,” and four strains, IPB Carabao 1, FOC Accession Nos. 12-053, 12-209 and 12-127 for Nsic-registration.
Farrales mango
REGISTERED along with Mangoming, Farrales mango has red blush skin, has very good eating quality, and is resistant to fruit fly.
It was registered with the NSIC in November 2020.
It’s seedling with unknown pedigree, was owned by Perla Farrales from Castillejos, Zambales. The tree was more than 30 years old with an approximate height of 12 meters.
It bears fruits twice a year with peaks of fruiting from January to February and July to August and yields 200 kg in one season. The ellipsoid fruits weigh 222.68 g and had an attractive yellow with red blushed peel.
The orange pulp is very juicy and has a very good eating quality. It has a 66.62 percent edible portion and medium sweetness (16.62°B), making it very ideal as table type mango.
Its resistance to fruit fly make its seedlings more in demand.
Kyla Luz mango
WITH Kyla Luz as proposed name, this mango has high edible portion, excellent eating quality and moderate resistance to anthracnose.
From Rapadas Farm in Tiaong, Quezon, this 20-year-old tree is 8-m tall with a spreading growth habit. It bears fruits from May to June annually when chemically induced, yielding an average of 550kg per season. The fruits weigh 286.86g on the average.
The pulp is yellow-orange with intermediate texture and medium sweetness. It is juicy and has a mild aroma. It is ideal as table type mango.
Carotene mango
THE Carotene mango from UPLBIPB, bears oblong-shaped fruits with peaks of fruiting on May and June, and yields 350 kg in one season.
The fruit weighs 334.95g on the average with 0.94mm peel thickness. This has attractive yellow with red blush peel. The pulp is yelloworange in color with mild aroma when ripe.
It is sweet, juicy, low in fiber, has a very good eating quality and has 76.22 percent edible portion.
It is moderately tolerant to anthracnose and least susceptible to fruit fly. This selection is ideal for both direct consumption and processing.
Its proposed name is Carotene because besides it has high vitamin A content compared to other mango varieties.
Tommy atkins mango
“TOMMY ATKINS” mango originated in Florida and widely grown commercial variety in the United States. The tree is around 10 feet to 12 feet tall, bearing extra-large oblong-shaped fruits from June to August without flower induction.
The fruit peel is of yellow with red color and intermediate thickness. The yellow orange pulp is juicy, sweet and has an intermediate texture.
It has a 77.68 percent edible portion, low total soluble solid, mild aroma and low to moderate fiber. It is tolerant to anthracnose, least susceptible to fruit fly, and ideal for both direct consumption and processing.
IPB Carabao 1 mango
THE registration of “IPB Carabao 1” with IPB-GTRRO was approved in July 2021. Its 25-year-old tree is 10 feet tall and vigorous.
The fruits are ellipsoid with an average fruit weight of 262.32g. When ripe, the peel is yellow and 0.76 mm thick. The yellow orange pulp had an intermediate texture, juicy, medium sweetness, low fibers and excellent eating quality. This selection had high edible portion of 78.57 percent.
Fruits also has an intermediate tolerance to anthracnose and ideal as table type mango.
The other carabao mangoes that are candidates for NSIC registration are: FOCS. Acc. No. 12-127 that has moderate resistance to fruit fly, and FOC Accession 12-053 and 12-209.