| Alphonso, the most delicious variety of mango {Mangifera indica L. known for its excellent texture, taste and richness in vitamins and minerals is intrigued by a physiological disorder known as "Spongy Tissue" (internal breakdown).
It is characterized by unripe, acidic, pale yellow to brown corky tissue with or without air pockets along with an unpleasant taste, which renders the fruit unfit for human consumption.
Since last five decades, mangoes affected by this disorder do not show any external symptoms .Physically it is detected only after cutting the fruit open, posing a challenge for quality control in export.
Extensive investigations were carried out by various research scientists to understand the cause of this disorder without much success. The reasons attributed to the incidence of this disorder include factors as diverse as ecological, nutritional, environmental, microbial, physiological and biochemical. However the malady has remained unsolved since all those studies were confined to measuring the effects rather than the cause.
Generally the spongy tissue affects 80% of the mangoes of Alphonso variety at tree ripe stage, irrespective of the year, age of the tree, orchard spacing, fruit position and size. So it is commercial practice to harvest the mangoes at around 70-80% maturity to decrease the percentage of spongy tissue and still more than 20 % fruits are affected. |