The identification of a 65 million year old record of a leaf fossil belonging to the Mangifera in Meghalaya state and further palaeobotanical studies have finally settled the controversy about the Indian origin of Mango.
Reference to mangoes as the ‘food of the gods’ can be found in the Hindu Vedas. The name of the fruit came from the Tamil word ‘maangai’ or the Malayalam word ‘maanga’ and popularized by the Portuguese after their Indian exploration.
The mango is purportedly the most widely consumed fresh fruit in the world, with worldwide production exceeding 17 million metric tons a year. Mexico is the largest exporter of mangoes in the world.
They have been cultivated, praised and revered since ancient times. It was estimated that mango cultivation appeared to have begun at least 4000 years ago. In the early period of domestication, mango trees probably yielded small fruit with thin flesh.
It was introduced to Malayan Archipelago around 500 to 400 BC through the spread of Buddhism.
Buddhist pilgrims Fa-Hien and Sung-Yuan mentioned in their travel notes that the Gaut
ma Buddha was presented with a mango grove by Amradarika in 500 BC as a place for meditation.
It appears, however, that Hsuan-tsang, one of the early travelers to India (632-645), was the first person to bring the mango t the notice of people outside India.
By the tenth century AD, Persian traders took it to the Middle East and East Africa. With the arrival of the Portuguese in India in the 15th century, it was later spread to South America, the Philippines and to West Africa. Mangos are now cultivated commercially throughout tropics and subtropical areas.
The history and origin of mango
