Mango is one of the most popular and choicest fruits of India. Having originated in the Indo-Myanmar region (Mukherjee, 1953), both wild and cultivated forms of mango in India exhibit unusual diversity in fruit forms, flavour and taste (Mukherjee, 1948; Naik and Gangolly, 1950). Diverse climatic conditions prevalent in the country, allopolyploidy and cross-pollinated nature of the crop have resulted in high heterozygosity and greater variability of gene pool in these species. Over a thousand varieties are said to exist in the country (Mukherjee, 1953). Western Ghats and the peninsular region of India are among the diversity-rich centers for Mangifera indica varieties. There are several unique types, growing naturally by the side of streams and rivers, used mainly for pickling. These are called Appemidi types, found mainly in Uttara Kannada district of Karnataka. These are used for tender, whole-fruited pickles, called ‘midi’ in the local language. These unique types are gaining importance in the export market because of their suitability for pickling as whole-fruit (tender mangoes) (Radhakrishna Holla, 2007). With rapid deforestation in several of these areas, surveys were conducted by us to collect for conserving these unique types at our institute. Attempts were also made to evaluate these types, as, very little work has been done earlier. The experiment was carried out to study diversity in 33 ‘Appemidi’ types collected and maintained in the field Genetic diversity in ‘Appemidi’ pickle mangoes C. Vasugi, M.R. Dinesh and R. Chithiraichelvan Division of Fruit Crops Indian Institute of Horticultural Research Hessaraghatta Lake Post, Bangalore - 560 089, India E-mail: vasuc@iihr.ernet.in ABSTRACT Mango is an important fruit crop grown extensively in India. An enormous diversity is seen in its flavour, taste and fruit form unique to particular regions of India. A large diversity for unique pickling types, called ‘Appemidi’ (tender mangoes), is seen in Uttara Kannada district of Karnataka. With rapid deforestation in several of these areas, surveys were conducted to collect and conserve these unique types. This resulted in collection of 33 unique accessions which have been conserved in the Institute’s field gene bank. On evaluation of tender fruit, accessions ‘Chansi Appe’, ‘Dodderi Jeerige’, ‘Mani Bhatta Appe’, ‘Gorana Appe’, ‘Isagoor Appe’, ‘Malange’, ‘Gurumurthy Appe’ and ‘Kashimidi’ were found to possess good traits for tender, whole-fruit pickling. Key words: Mango, evaluation, appemidi, pickling, conservation J. Hortl. Sci. Vol. 8(2):224-227, 2013 gene bank of the Institute. Passport data was collected and documented from the places where these surveys were conducted in Uttara Kannada district (Table 1). In each accession, three trees were selected to represent three replications and basic statistical measures such as mean, SEd, CV and SEm were worked out. The trees selected were of a uniform age group and grown under standard horticultural practices. Ten randomly-selected tender fruits (to the extent possible, before formation of the stony endocarp) were used for biometric observations in each accession and replication. Fruit characters like shape, flavour and latex flow were recorded on visual scoring. Weight of individual fruits was recorded and expressed in grams. Quality parameters like pH, titrable acidity, ascorbic acid content and dry matter content were analyzed as per Ranganna (1986). Fruit firmness was measured using Instron Universal Testing Machine (model 4201) with 3mm dia probe, and was expressed as kg/cm2 force. Evaluation for fruit characters The accessions exhibited a wide variability for different fruit characters (Table 2, Figs. 1 and 2; Plates 1 and 2). Fruit weight was found to vary between 191.75g in ‘Gaddalahalli Appe’, to 17.43g in ‘Kana Appe 1’. Different fruit shapes, viz., elliptic (Anantha Bhatta Appe, Appemidi, Aruna Gowda Appe), Round (Dodderi Jeerige, Gaddalahalli Appe, Kovesara) and oblong (Balekoppa Appe, Chansi Short communication 225 Table 1. Passport data of mango (Mangifera indica L.) accessions used in the study IIHR IC No Name of the Location District State Longitude Latitude Acc. No. accession 19875 IC 391597 Adderi Jeerige Sagar Shimoga Karnataka 75:03:33 14:16:66 19883 IC 391610 Anantha Bhatta Appe Sagar Shimoga Karnataka 75:03:33 14:16:66 19887 IC 391611 Appemidi Sagar Shimoga Karnataka 75:03:33 14:16:66 19893 IC 391617 Aruna Gowda Appe Sirsi Uttara Kannada Karnataka 74:85:00 14:61:66 19905 IC 391627 Balekoppa Appe Sirsi Uttara Kannada Karnataka 74:85:00 14:61:66 20247 IC 391650 Chanshi Appe Sirsi Uttara Kannada Karnataka 74:85:00 14:61:66 19923 IC 391663 Dannalli Appe Sirsi Uttara Kannada Karnataka 74:85:00 14:61:66 19926 IC 391668 Dodderi Jeerige Sagar Shimoga Karnataka 75:03:33 14:16:66 20250 IC 391679 Gaddalahalli Appe Sirsi Uttara Kannada Karnataka 74:85:00 14:61:66 20243 IC 391685 Gorana Appe Sirsi Uttara Kannada Karnataka 74:85:00 14:61:66 19943 IC 391689 Gurumurthy Appe Kumta Uttara Kannada Karnataka 74:40:00 14:41:66 20246 IC 391691 Halasage Sirsi Uttara Kannada Karnataka 74:85:00 14:61:66 19953 IC 391707 Hittalahalli Appe Sidhapur Uttara Kannada Karnataka 74:88:33 14:33:33 19954 IC 391708 Holekoppada Appe Sidhapur Uttara Kannada Karnataka 74:88:33 14:33:33 19955 IC 391709 Huliappekai Sidhapur Uttara Kannada Karnataka 74:88:33 14:33:33 19960 IC 391712 Isagoor Appe Kumta Uttara Kannada Karnataka 74:40:00 14:41:66 19964 IC 391718 Jeerige Sirsi Uttara Kannada Karnataka 74:85:00 14:61:66 20253 IC 391735 Kadikai Sirsi Uttara Kannada Karnataka 74:85:00 14:61:66 20254 IC 391738 Kalakai Sirsi Uttara Kannada Karnataka 74:85:00 14:61:66 20248 IC 391723 Kalkuni Sirsi Uttara Kannada Karnataka 74:85:00 14:61:66 20023 IC 391739 Kana Appe-1 Perla Kasargod Kerala 75:06:66 12:60:00 20242 IC 391724 Kangaramatha Sirsi Uttara Kannada Karnataka 74:85:00 14:61:66 19972 IC 391726 Kashimidi Sirsi Uttara Kannada Karnataka 74:85:00 14:61:66 20430 IC 395077 Kovesara Sirsi Uttara Kannada Karnataka 74:85:00 14:61:66 20234 IC 391776 Mahabalagiri Appe Sirsi Uttara Kannada Karnataka 74:85:00 14:61:66 20239 IC 391781 Malange Sirsi Uttara Kannada Karnataka 74:85:00 14:61:66 20013 IC 391787 Mani Bhatta Appe Sirsi Uttara Kannada Karnataka 74:85:00 14:61:66 20240 IC 391795 Muregeer Sirsi Uttara Kannada Karnataka 74:85:00 14:61:66 20245 IC 391784 Mandamane Sirsi Uttara Kannada Karnataka 74:85:00 14:61:66 20237 IC 391802 Nandgar Appe Sirsi Uttara Kannada Karnataka 74:85:00 14:61:66 20053 IC 395095 Sadamidi Sagar Shimoga Karnataka 75:03:33 14:16:66 20244 IC 391858 Shidadakke Appe Sirsi Uttara Kannada Karnataka 74:85:00 14:61:66 20258 IC 391870 Thumbebeedu Sirsi Uttara Kannada Karnataka 74:85:00 14:61:66 Appe, Gorana Appe, Gurumurthy Appe, Halasage, Hitalahalli Appe, Holekoppada Appe, Huli Appekai, Isagoor Appe, Jeerige and Kashimidi) were recorded. Large diversity seen in these types is due to the inherent heterozygosity, coupled with seed propagation; these are found mainly along banks Fig 1. Fruit weight and ascorbic acid content in ‘Appemidi’ types of mango of streams, and their fruit is carried by the water to distant places. A majority of these accessions bear fruit in clusters and are monoembryonic. Most are named after the place they are found in or after the farmer who has identified the type. Some of the types were observed to have a strong, raw-mango flavour (Balekoppa Appe, Halasage, Hittalahalli Fig 2. Fruit titrable acidity in different Appemidi types of mango Fr ui t w ei gh t (g ) / A sc or bi c ac id ( m g/ 10 0g ) fr es h w ei gh t Ti tr ab le a ci di ty J. Hortl. Sci. Vol. 8(2):224-227, 2013 ‘Appemidi’ pickle mangoes 226 Gaddalahalli Appe, Kovesara, Isagoor Appe, Jeerige, Mani Bhatta Appe, Malange, Kashimidi, Adderi Jeerige, Anantha Bhatta Appe, Shidadakke Appe, Aruna Gowda Appe and Gorana Appe (19.95, 19.24, 18.98, 18.94, 18.88, 18.65, 17.94, 17.8, 17.6, 16.82, 16.80, 16.2, 16.0, 16.00%, respectively). Accessions ‘Mandamane’ (11.40%) and ‘Hittalahalli Appe’ (11.90%) had lower dry weight. In ascorbic acid content of fruit, accession ‘Kashimidi’ was significantly high (114.1mg 100g-1 pulp), followed by ‘Dannalli Appe’ (110.40mg 100g-1 pulp) and ‘Isagoor Appe’ (109.6mg 100g-1). Similarly, accessions Halasage, Chansi Appe, Appemidi had higher ascorbic acid content (more than 100mg 100g-1 pulp fresh weight) and low in ‘Shidadakke Table 2. Physical and chemical quality of mango accessions evaluated for whole-fruit pickle Accession Fruit Mango Latex Fruit Firmness Acidity p H Drymatter Ascorbic shape flavour flow weight(g) of fruit (%) (%) acid ( kgcm-2 ) content content (mg100g-1) Adderi Jeerige Oblong Medium Medium 45.37 12.78 2.72 2.54 17.6 36.60 Anantha Bhatta Appe Elliptic Medium High 61.53 13.94 2.55 2.52 16.82 68.93 Appemidi Elliptic Strong High 25.23 15.25 2.67 2.98 14.19 101.30 Aruna Gowda Appe Elliptic Strong Medium 57.67 12.99 3.05 2.8 16.2 42.70 Balekoppada Appe Oblong Strong High 33.41 18.39 3.34 2.32 14.6 54.94 Chansi Appe Oblong Medium Medium 47.00 13.63 3.27 2.71 14.60 103.70 Dannalli Appe Oblong Strong High 52.50 14.58 1.92 2.89 15.21 110.40 Dodderi Jeerige Round Medium Medium 46.50 20.19 2.48 2.86 12.48 32.78 Gaddalahalli Appe Round Medium Medium 191.75 17.09 2.45 2.51 19.24 54.92 Gorana Appe Oblong Strong High 63.40 20.62 2.26 3.04 16.00 96.00 Gurumurthy Appe Oblong Medium Medium 37.50 13.77 2.42 2.62 15.51 27.45 Halasage Oblong Strong Medium 34.54 14.79 2.73 2.41 13.85 106.43 Hittalahalli Appe Oblong Strong High 39.60 20.83 2.88 2.80 11.90 79.30 Holekoppada Appe Oblong Medium Medium 55.93 16.2 2.42 2.38 15.22 87.23 Huli Appekai Oblong Medium Medium 58.4 18.0 2.4 2.6 14.93 35.60 Isagoor Appe Oblong Strong High 36.47 18.21 2.85 2.9 18.94 109.60 Jeerige Oblong Strong High 36.3 17.16 3.26 2.26 18.88 45.75 Kadikai Oblong Low Low 65.2 16.24 2.55 2.83 19.2 64.80 Kalakai Oblong Medium High 40.00 13.8 3.26 2.94 14.20 45.75 Kalkuni Oblong Low Low 43.32 13.7 2.75 2.75 19.95 51.85 Kana Appe 1 Oblong Medium High 17.43 12.96 2.32 2.67 15.76 90.28 Kangarmatha Oblong Medium Medium 44.50 21.25 2.75 2.91 13.92 95.56 Kashimidi Oblong Strong Medium 26.07 12.67 2.66 3.0 17.8 114.10 Kovesara Round Low Low 54.01 15.6 2.56 2.85 18.98 76.86 Mahabalagiri Appe Oblong Medium Medium 50.20 11.58 2.02 2.70 15.10 27.45 Malange Round Strong High 30.77 19.94 3.14 2.28 17.94 36.65 Mandamane Appe Oblong Mild Low 35.50 11.86 2.91 2.85 11.40 48.03 Mani Bhatta Appe Round Strong High 173.97 19.66 3.07 2.24 18.65 64.15 Muregeer Oblong Medium Medium 26.94 14.68 2.89 2.95 20.08 75.03 Nandgar Appe Oblong Strong High 50.50 15.28 2.43 2.72 15.02 64.05 Sadamidi Oblong Strong High 50.40 18.14 2.52 2.83 13.96 42.70 Shidadakke Appe Oblong Medium High 51.00 15.39 2.13 2.85 16.80 15.25 Thumbebeedu Oblong Strong High 43.90 15.64 2.35 2.70 15.80 24.40 SEd 2.39 1.28 0.85 0.04 1.07 2.62 CV 5.59 9.82 3.90 2.02 8.19 4.96 SEm 1.69 0.90 0.06 0.032 0.76 1.85 Appe, Isagoor Appe, Jeerige, Kashimidi, Malange, Mani Bhatta Appe, Nandgar Appe, Sadamidi and Thumbe beedu). Raw tender-mango with a strong flavour is best suited for pickle making and has a demand in both domestic and international market. Latex flow is an important character in evaluating pickling types. Latex flow was found to be medium in 13 accessions, high in 16 accessions and low in 4 accessions, viz., Kalkuni, Kovesara, Kadikai and Mandamane. pH value of the fruits ranged from 2.24 to 3.04. Accession ‘Gorana Appe’ recorded significantly higher pH (3.04) while pH was lower (2.24) in ‘Mani Bhatta Appe’. Dry weight of fruit was significantly higher (20.08% of fresh weight) in ‘Muregeer’ and was on par with Kalkuni, J. Hortl. Sci. Vol. 8(2):224-227, 2013 Vasugi et al 227 Appe’ (15.25mg 100g-1), followed by ‘Thumbebeedu’ (24.40mg 100g-1), ‘Gurumurthy Appe’ (27.45mg 100g-1) and ‘Mahabalagiri Appe’ (27.45mg 100g-1). Titrable acidity was observed to be maximum (3.34%) in Balekoppa Appe, Chansi Appe, Kalakai, Jeerige, Malange, Mani Bhatta Appe and Aruna Gowda Appe. Firmness was found to vary from 11.58 kg/cm2 in ‘Mahabalagiri Appe’ to 21.25 kg/cm2 in ‘Kangaramatha’. Accessions with high acidity and fruit firmness are best suited for pickling, as, these parameters decide taste and quality of the final product. Morphological, agronomical and biochemical parameters (Rick and Holle, 1990; Weber and Wricke, 1994 and Kraemmer et al, 1995) have been widely used for evaluating several crops. Knowledge of genetic variability strongly facilitates breeding for wider geographic adaptability. Several studies have been conducted from time to time on morphological description of mango (Burns and Prayag, 1921; Mukherjee, 1948; Naik and Gangolly, 1950; Singh and Singh, 1956; Gangolly et al, 1957; Rajan et al, 1999; Yeshitela and Nessel, 2003; Desai and Dhander, 2000 and Dinesh and Vasugi, 2002). One of the characteristic features of mango varieties present in India has been expression of a character in a particular environment where the variety may have originated. In the present study, a given unique indigenous type of mango belonging to Western Ghat region has shown distinct characteristics. These types are unique in that they are highly acidic, fibrous and rich in the characteristic raw- mango flavor; these have medium to high latex-flow and a firm pulp with good keeping quality. The pulp, after pickling, remains firm even for 3-4 years. On the basis of tender- fruit evaluation, accessions Chansi Appe, Dodderi Jeerige, Mani Bhatta Appe, Gorana Appe, Isagoor Appe, Malange, Gurumurthy Appe and Kashimidi possessed good traits for pickling. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT: For collection of the above mango types, assistance of Sri G.M. Hegde (Sirsi), Sri Shivanand Kalave (Sirsi), Sri A. Mahabalaiah, (Avinahally, Sagar), Sri Kallukoppa Manjunath, Sri Subbaraya Hegde (Sirsi), Sri Subraya Bhat (Sullia), Sri Ananthamurthy Jawali (Ripponpet) and Sri Venkatagiri (Shimoga) is gratefully acknowledged. REFERENCES Burns, W. and Prayag, S.H. 1921. Indian mangoes. J. Royal Hort. Soc., 26:755-770 Desai, A.R. and Dhander, D.G. 2000. Variation in physic- chemical and morphological characters of some mango varieties of Goa. Acta Hort., 509:243-249 Dinesh, M.R. and Vasugi, C. 2002. Catalogue of mango germplasm, published by IIHR, Bangalore, pp.160 Gangolly, S.P., Singh, R., Katyal, S.L. and Singh, D. 1957. The book of the mango. Department of Agriculture, Bombay, Bull. 103 Kaemmer, D., Weising, K., Beyermann,B., Borner, T., Epplen, J.T and Kahl, G. 1995. Oligunucleotide fingerprinting of tomato DNA. Pl. Breed., 114:12-17 Mukherjee, S.K. 1948. The varieties of mango (Mangifera indica L.) Bull. Bot. Soc. Bengal, 2:101-33 Mukherjee, S.K. 1953. The mango its botany, cultivation, uses and future improvements, especially as observed in India. Econ. Bot., 7:130-162 Naik, K.C., and Gangolly, S.R. 1950. Classification and nomenclature of south Indian mangoes. The Madras Department of Agriculture, Superindent Printing Press, Madras, India Radhakrishna Holla. 2007. Guna, Vaishistathegala Khajane Vanya Jaathiya maavu thaligagu Sujatha Sanchike, May 17-23 Rajan, S., Negi, S.S. and Kumar, R. 1999. Catalogue of mango germplasm, Central Institute for Subtropical Horticulture, Lucknow, India Ranganna, S. 1986. Handbook of Analysis and Quality Control for Fruit and Vegetable Products, Second Edition, Tata McGraw Hill Publishing Company Ltd., New Delhi, pp.1112 Rick, C.M. and Holle, M. 1990. Andean Lycopersicon esculentum var. cerasiformie. Genetic variation and its evolutionary significance. Econ. Bot., 44:69-78 Singh, L.B. and Singh, R.N. 1956. A monograph on the mangoes of Uttar Pradesh, Superintendent of Printing, UP Government, Lucknow Weber, W.E. and Wricke, G. 1994. Genetic markers in plant breeding. In: Advances in Plant Breeding, J.Pl. Breed. Suppl.16 Yeshitela, T. and Nessel, T. 2003. Characterization and classification of mango ecotypes grown in Eastern Hararghe (Ethiopia). Sarhad J. Agri., 19:179-183 (MS Received 12 February 2012, Revised 04 June 2013, Accepted 21 July 2013) J. Hortl. Sci. Vol. 8(2):224-227, 2013 ‘Appemidi’ pickle mangoes