Economic importance of Mangifera indica

By: Kherlyddone

Fruit of Mangifera indica-Alphonso mango

Family: Anacardiaceae

Genus: Mangifera

Species: M. indica

Common name: Mango, Aam

Origin: India

Description: Large evergreen tree with a dense dome-shaped crown.  Leaves  bluntly acuminate, dark glossy green, pinkish when young, and base acute.  Panicles  conical, flowers small, greenish yellow, scented, male and bisexual on the same panicle. Fruit a fleshy drupe, generally yellow when young and contains one seed.

Economic Importance:

§  Wood is extensively used for low-cost furniture, floor, ceiling boards, window frames, heavy packing cases, match splints, brush backs, oar blades, agricultural implements  etc. Also suitable for tea chest plywood. A hard charcoal of high calorific value is obtained from mango wood. After preservative treatment, it can be used as a substitute for teak as beams, rafters, trusses, and door and window frames. Suitable for slate frames, ammunition boxes, bobbins, carving and turnery work.

§  The bark possesses 16% to 20% tannin and has been employed for tanning hides. It yields a yellow dye, or, with turmeric and lime, a bright rose-pink. The bark contains mangiferine and is astringent and employed against rheumatism and diphtheria in India. The resinous gum from the trunk is applied on cracks in the skin of the feet and on scabies, and is believed helpful in cases of syphilis.

§  Mango kernel decoction and powder (not tannin-free) are used as vermifuges and as astringents in diarrhoea, hemorrhages and bleeding hemorrhoids. The fat is administered in cases of stomatitis. Extracts of unripe fruits and of bark, stems and leaves have shown antibiotic activity

§  A somewhat resinous, red-brown gum from the trunk is used for mending crockery in tropical Africa. In India, it is sold as a substitute for gum arabic.

§  Dried flowers are of medicinal value and used for curing dysentery and cattarah of bladder. It is a cure for wasp sting, rubbed between hands and left to dry.

§  Mango fruit is one of the delicious fruit of India exported to many countries. The green unripe fruits are used in curries, sharbats and pickles.