Geographic variation in the flavour volatiles of Alphonso mango

doi:10.1016/j.foodchem.2011.06.053

Food Chemistry

Volume 130, Issue 1, 1 January 2012, Pages 58-66

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodchem.2011.06.053 Get rights and content

Abstract

Alphonso, one of the most popular cultivars of mango in India is known to exhibit geographic variation in the flavour of ripe fruits. To get chemical insight into this difference, volatiles were studied in the ripening fruits of Alphonso mangoes from three cultivation locations in India. Ripe fruits from Deogad had lower content of mono- and sesquiterpenes and higher content of lactones and furanones as compared to the fruits from Dapoli; whereas fruits from Vengurle had average quantities of these chemicals in comparison with Deogad and Dapoli fruits. This variation was clearly reflected as separate clustering of the localities in the Principal Component Analysis. The localities were indistinguishable from each other in terms of raw fruit volatiles. This study exemplifies a case of phenotypic plasticity; since the plants chosen were clonally propagated, such geographic variation in the volatiles can be attributed to varied abiotic conditions at these three localities.

Highlights

► Volatiles studied in ripening fruits of Alphonso mango from three locations in India. ► Ripe fruits from Dapoli had relatively higher amount of mono- and sesquiterpenes. ► Ripe fruits from Deogad had higher amount of lactones compared to two other regions. ► No such geographic variation in terms of unripe fruit volatiles was observed. ► This variation could be because of variable abiotic conditions among these locations.

Introduction

India stands first in the list of mango producing (39.1% of the world production of 34.9 MMT) and exporting (23% of the world export of 1.2 MMT) countries, which contributes significantly to its foreign income and agro-rural development (http://faostat.fao.org/site/291/default.aspx). India is known as the country of origin of mango and is blessed with thousands of cultivars of this national fruit (Salvi & Gunjate, 1988). Alphonso is the most popular mango cultivar, which is favoured mainly because of its highly attractive flavour. Apart from this, Alphonso possesses many significant attributes such as attractive colour, ample sweetness, low fibre-containing pulp and long shelf life. Ripe Alphonso fruits are popularly used in processed and canned foods. Similarly, the raw fruits of Alphonso are also used in food products, such as pickles, tarts, curries and salads (Bawa, 2007).

Despite having so many virtues, cultivation of Alphonso in different localities in India does not result in same quality of fruits. Because of this fact, Alphonso cultivation is concentrated in a 700-km long, narrow coastal belt of western India, the Konkan region. Even within this region, the fruits show conspicuous variation in their taste and flavour. Throughout Konkan, the growing practice and post-harvest treatment of these mangoes is the same, wherein, after harvesting, the fruits are packed in hay and are immediately transported to market. It takes about 15 days after harvest for complete ripening. In spite of such consistent cultivation and harvesting practices, the flavour of the ripe mangoes differs between the localities of cultivation. Because of this, Alphonso fruits from a specific region (Deogad) of Konkan are preferred for fresh table use as well as for processed food products, resulting in high market value for the fruits from this region.

Till now, effect of geographic location on mango fruit quality has been shown in Australian cultivars (Hassan et al., 2009, Hofman et al., 1997), but these studies were not focused on the flavour volatiles, which is one of the most important functional phenotypes of the fruits. To understand chemical basis behind the flavour variation observed in Alphonso mango, we initiated a study of the volatiles through the developmental and ripening stages of Alphonso fruits. As the first part, we studied the fruits from the middle Konkan region, Deogad, which is known to produce the best quality Alphonso. This analysis indicated that Alphonso fruits are rich in mono and sesquiterpenes and that the ripening stages are characterised by the unique presence of lactones and furanones (Pandit, Kulkarni, et al., 2009). In the present study, we have extended this work towards the volatile analysis of ripening stages of the Alphonso from three different cultivation localities, each from north, middle and south Konkan.

Section snippets

Plant material

Mature raw fruits of Alphonso mango were collected from the orchards of Konkan Krishi Vidyapeeth at Dapoli (N17°45′ E73°11′) and Deogad (N16°31′ E73°20′) and from a private orchard at Vengurle (N15°51′ E73°39′). For each of the three localities, four plants were selected and from each of these plants at least 20 fruits were used for the analysis to justify the statistical validity of the analysis. These randomly chosen plants from the orchard were distantly located (at least 30 m away) from each

Detection of volatiles

Thirty-one volatile compounds were detected, out of which 20 were quantitated in the fruits of four ripening stages from the three different localities (Table 1). Compounds were classified into four classes, viz., monoterpenes (13 compounds), sesquiterpenes (5 compounds), lactones (8 compounds), furanones (2 compounds) and others (3 compounds). Monoterpenes were found in the highest concentration (2.55 to 374 μg g⁻¹) in all the 48 tissues analysed. (Z)–Ocimene, one of the monoterpenes, showed

Discussion

Flavour is one of the most important characteristics of fruits and vegetables and decides acceptability and preference of these important food items by humans. For plants, flavour forms one of the most important phenotypes of the fruits that plays a vital functional role by attracting seed disseminators and repelling pathogens, thereby increasing shelf-life of the fruits (Lanciotti et al., 2004). Qualitative and quantitative nature of the flavour depends on various parameters, including

Acknowledgements

R.S.K. and H.G.C. thank CSIR for research fellowships. Authors thank Bhushan Nabar, who provided the fruits from Vengurle locality. Dr BSKKV staff is acknowledged for the field support.

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Geographic variation in the flavour volatiles of Alphonso mango

Abstract

Highlights

Introduction

Section snippets

Plant material

Detection of volatiles

Discussion

Acknowledgements

Biochemical Systematics and Ecology

Phytochemistry

Trends in Food Science & Technology

Food Chemistry

Plant Physiology and Biochemistry (Paris)

Plant Science

Phytochemistry

Regulation of ethylene biosynthesis

Journal of Plant Growth Regulation

Changes in fatty acids in ripening mango pulp (variety Alphonso)

Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry

Historical developments in food science and technology – Indian perspective

Journal of Food Science and Technology – Mysore

Plant volatiles: Recent advances and future perspectives

Critical Reviews in Plant Sciences

The regulation of MADS-box gene expression during ripening of banana and their regulatory interaction with ethylene

Journal of Experimental Botany