Manga – Mangifera Indica Linn.

mango leaves

Manga – Mangifera Indica Linn. / Mangifera rostrata Blanco / Mangifera anisdera Blanco / Mangifera sylvatica F.-Vill. / Mangifera fragrans F.-Vill.

Local names: Mampalam (Sul.); mampalang (Sul.); manga (Ilk., Tag., Ig., Mag.); manga chupadera (Sp.); mangang-kalabau (Tag.); mangang-piko (Tag.); mango (Engl.); pao (Bon.); mangka (Ig.); paho (C. Bis.).

Manga is cultivated throughout the Philippines. It was certainly introduced. It is also reported to occur in the Indo-Malayan region in general cultivation, and is now planted in all tropical countries.

This is a large tree, with a dense and spreading crown. The leaves are oblong to oblong-lanceolate, 10 to 30 centimeters long. The flowers are yellow, small, 3 to 4 millimeters long, and borne on erect, hairy panicles which are often as long as the leaves or longer. The fruit (drupe) is yellow, fleshy, oblong-ovoid, 10 to 15 centimeters long, and somewhat compressed. The seeds are large, flattened, and fibrous.

The mango is the most widely grown and most highly prized of all Philippine fruits. There are several varieties in cultivation, but the most popular are the “kalabao” and “piko” varieties. Mangoes are of varying shades of yellow, large elliptical in outline, but somewhat flattened. The skin is thin and in the center of the fruit is a very large, flattened seed, which is surrounded by the edible yellow pulp. The mango has a very decided, perfumelike taste. The “kalabao” mango is highly prized by practically everyone who eats it. The “piko” variety is a smaller and more fibrous mango and is less highly regarded than the “kalabao” variety, but is sweeter.

The kalabao mango is excellent when quick-frozen. Mango, either fresh or quick-frozen, makes a delicious ice cream, when sliced and served with cream and sugar, it tastes very much like peaches. Mangoes are also canned with syrup, made into a jam, or candied. Chutney is also made from unripe mangoes. The green ones are often pickled in brine. The young, fresh leaves are also eaten with native dishes like those of “kasui”. The yellow coloring in the leaves, bark, and fruit is a dye called “peori dye” in India.

Analyses of the kalabao and piko mangoes show a high carbohydrate content and much nutriment. Both are fair sources of iron but are deficient in calcium. According to Hermano, the kalabao mango is an excellent source of vitamin A, B, and C, while piko mango is a good source of Vitamin A and an excellent source of vitamins B and C.

Beyer isolated from the leaves 43-46.7 percent euxanthin acid. (C19H16O10), and also some euxanthon (C13H8O4). Wehmer records that hippuric acid, and benzoic acids are also present. Gorter adds that mangiferin has been isolated also, and Wiechowski separated from the mother substance (euxanthin acid), mangin, 4 percent.

Prinsen-Geerligs reports that the fruit (“sweet variety”) contains saccharose 3.6 percent, levulose 1.9 percent, and a little dextrose. Avequin states that it also contains citric acid. Sanyal and Ghose report the presence also of tartaric and mallic acids.

Wehmer records that the seeds contain fixed oil with oleo-stearin melting at 44º, much starch, gallic acid, and tannin 8-9 per cent. He adds that the exudates from the bark yields resin 79.16 per cent, gum 14.68 per cent, water 4.34 per cent and ash 1.66 per cent. The bark contains 13 to 20 per cent tannin.

Vasistha and Siddiqui conducted a chemical study of mango “chep” resin, the exudation of the fruit, and isolated three products: a resin, mangiferene (C21H34O); a resinous acid, mangiferic acid (C40H60O4); and a (phenol) resinol, mangiferol (C21H36O25). They say that these resinous principles are found to be in no way allied to bhilawanol or anacardic acid.

The bark of the root is official in the Mexican (2-4) and Venezuelan (1, 2) Pharmacopoeias; the leaves, in the Mexican (2-4) Pharmacopoeia; and the fruit in the Mexican (2-4) and Venezuelan (1, 2) Pharmacopoeias.

In the Philippines, according to Guerrero, a decoction of the root is considered diuretic. The bark and seeds are astringent. The leaves are prepared as a tea. The resin is used as a cure for aphthae.

The bark is astringent and is used in Cambodia in hot lotions for rheumatism and leucorrhoea, and sometimes a solution of the gum obtained from the bark is swallowed for dysentery, both there and in India. This gum resin mixed with coconut oil is applied to scabies and other parasitic diseases of the skin. A fluid extract, or an infusion, is used in menorrhagia, leucorrhoea, bleeding piles and in cases of haemorrhage from the lungs, for nasal catarrh, and for lumbrick. The gum resin of the bark and of the fruit is used as sudorific, and is an effective antisyphilitic. The root bark is a bitter aromatic and is used in Sind for diarrhea and leucorrhoea.

The juice of the leaf is useful in bleeding dysentery. A decoction of the leaves with a little honey added is given for loss of voice. The tender leaves dried and made into a powder are useful in diabetes. The ashes of the leaves are a popular remedy for burns and scalds. An infusion of the young leaves is prescribed for chronic diseases of the lungs, and for asthma and coughs. The young leaves are used as a pectoral in Sind.

The dried flowers, in decociton or powder, are useful in diarrhea, chronic dysentery, and gleet.

Dymock, Warden, and Hooper consider the ripe fruit to be invigorating and refreshing, flattening, and slightly laxative and diuretic; but consider the rind and fiber, as well as the unripe fruit, to be astringent and acid. The latter when pickled is much used on account of its stomachic and appetizing qualities. Unripe mangoes, peeled, cut from the stone, and dried in the sun are valuable antiscorbutic. Nadkarni says that the ripe fruit is very wholesome and nourishing and useful in nervous and atomic dyspepsia and constipation. Robinson states that the fruit, when eaten, often causes a rash. Vasistha and Siddiqui report that the “cheap” resin of the fruit is popularly regarded in India as a cure for scabies and other cutaneous affections.

The seed is medicinal in India, China, and Malaysia. It is bitter and acts as a vermifuge. It is also astringent, and is given in obstinate diarrhea, and for bleeding piles. The kernel or stone from green mango is considered as an anthelmintic. The seed is used in Johore for round worms, menorrhagia, and piles. The seeds are astringent, but not markedly so. Their action has not been studied, and may be due to the bitter substance. It cannot be powerful, as the seeds are recorded as a famine-food in India. But the medicinal use is widespread, and seeds may be found dried and stored in the Chinese pharmacies of the Straits. In cases of asthma, diarrhea, chronic dysentery, haematemesis, menorrhagia, leucorrhoea, bleeding piles, and round worms, the powdered seed is given in doses of about 20 to 30 grains with or without honey.

Source: Bureau of Plant Industry, Department of Agriculture