Weaver ants (Oecophylla) can be used to control a variety of mango pests. Drops of formic acid from the ants can leave black marks on the mango fruit skin, but this aesthetic problem can be reduced if ant colonies are isolated from each other, thereby minimizing aggression. (Peng and Christian 2009; VanMele et al. 2009)
Mangifera indica is among the most economically and culturally important tropical fruits, especially in Asia. It was originally found in the foothills of the Himalayas in northeastern India, Burma, and Bangladesh and domesticated thousands of years ago (possibly independently in Southeast Asia). It is now grown in most tropical countries and some subtropical ones (it is grown as far north as 35° to 37° N in southern Spain). Many cultivars in India have been vegetatively propagated for hundreds of years. Early on, hundreds of years ago, mango was brought to Malaysia and other East Asian countries, then to East and West Africa, and finally to the New World. The Portugese introduced the mango to Brazil from their colonies in Mozambique and Angola and mangos were introduced to Mexico and Panama via the Philippines. Mangos were introduced to the West Indies in the mid-to late 1700s, probably via Brazil. In the tropics, mangos grow at elevations up to 1200 m. The trees may reach 40 m or more in height and live for several hundred years. They bear rosettes of evergreen leaves (red or yellow at first) and dense panicles up to 30 cm long of small (5 to 10 mm) reddish or yellowish flowers. The fruits, which range from 2.5 cm to more than 30 cm in length, depending on the cultivar, vary in shape (from round to oval, egg-shaped, or kidney-shaped) and color (green, yellow, red, purple) with a dotted skin. (Vaughan and Geissler 1997; Bompard 2009 and references therein; Mukherjee and Litz 2009 and references therein) A single mature mango tree can produce 2000 to 2500 ripe fruits (Jiron and Headström 1985).
India has long been a major mango producer, but as of 2009 China had risen to become the world's second largest mango producer, with India's production representing less than half the world total. Fresh mangos are now available in stores year-round in North America, Europe, and Japan. (Litz 2009) According to Evans and Mendoza (2009), the majority of the mangos imported by North America come from Mexico, Brazil, Peru, Ecuador, and Haiti. India and Pakistan are the main suppliers of western Asia. Southeast Asia is supplied mainly by the Philippines and Thailand. Europe imports mangos mainly from South America and Asia. India and Mexico each account for roughly a fifth to a quarter of world mango exports. World mango imports more than doubled between 1996 and 2005, with the United States accounting for a third of all mango imports.
The peel of the fruit and other parts of the mango can cause contact dermatitis in some people, as is the case for many species in the plant family Anacardiaceae.
The many contributors to Litz (2009) provide a comprehensive overview of mango biology and cultivation.
The flowers of Mangifera indica are rather strongly scented, producing a sweetish odor that is easily detected by a human from several meters away. Many insects appear to be attracted by the scent, especially cyclorrhaphan flies. The flowers produce nectar from sepal glands located on the outer margin of the disc, between the petals and the disc proper. The nectar is consumed by flies, beetles, and lepidopterans. A single 10 to 60 cm flower panicle can contain 1000 to 6000 flowers. However, 65 to 85% of the flowers remain unpollinated and, based on pollinator-exclusion trials, mango flowers are apparently not capable of autogamy (self-fertilization). Of observed diurnal flower visitors, Jiron and Headström (1985) reported that 51.6% were flies (especially syrphids, calliphorids, and sciarids), 33% were lepidopterans (especially nymphalids and lycaenids), 11.6% were beetles, and 3.6% were hymenopterans. Syrphid flies acounted for 20.9% of all flower visitors. Nocturnal visitors included Culex mosquitos and unidentified noctuid moths. Insects observed resting on flowers at night included rhynchosciarid sciarids, tipulid flies, Strigoderma rutelina (Scarabaeidae), and Chauliognathus (Coleoptera: Cantharidae). Although detailed pollination studies were not carried out, all observed visitors carried pollen except the lepidopterans, tipulids, and the hymenopteran Synoeca septentrionalis. The syrphids and calliphorids carried the most pollen on their bodies. (Jiron and Headström 1985)
Malerbo-Souza and Halak (2009) also found that flies were the most frequent visitors to mango flowers (other consistent visitors were Tetragonisca angustula bees and Diabrotica speciosa beetles). Fruit set was higher from flowers visited by insects.
Mangifera indica produces only hermaphrodite and staminate (male) flowers. Jiron and Headström (1985) found that in nearly all mango flowers, of the five stamens around the outer edge of the disc of observed hermaphrodite flowers, nearly all had just a single well developed stamen, which produced pollen; just a few percent had two fertile stamens. Singh (1954) found that mango varieties with a high proportion of staminate flowers produced few fruits.
Microsatellite markers for investigating genetic variation and distinguishing mango cultivars have been developed by Duval et al. (2005), Honsho et al. (2005), Schnell et al. (2005), and Viruel et al. (2005).
Although mango fruits are economically and culturally important across much of the world, like many other members of the Anacardiaceae, they contain toxic phenols that can cause serious contact dermatitis and other (occasionally very serious) allergic reactions in some people (Aguilar-Ortigoza et al. 2003). Prior exposure to poison ivy (Toxicodendron, also in the Anacardiaceae) appears to make an allergic reaction to mango more likely (Hershko et al. 2005).
Eiadthong et al. (1999) used PCR-RFLP to investigate relationships among 13 Mangifera species in Thailand, but low genetic variation permitted little phylogenetic resolution. Yonemori et al. (2002) used ITS sequences of nuclear ribosomal DNA to investigate phylogenetic relationships among 14 of the 15 Mangifera species (including M. indica) known from Thailand. Nishiyama et al. (2006) used genomic in situ hybridization to examine phylogenetic relationships among Mangifera indica and eight wild Mangifera species.
Mango fruits are an excellent source of vitamin C and carotenoids and Oliveira et al. (2010) found that the nutrient content of mangos was quite stable during fruit processing in a commercial restaurant.
