INTRODUCTION Mango (Mangifera indica L.) popularly known as ‘King of fruits’ is the most important native fruit crop of India, showing high heterozygosity and wide genetic variability. The large number of about 1000 varieties available in India has not been fully exploited. Brined raw mango slices, various types of pickles and chutneys are the major products commonly made from raw mango (Maneepun and Yunchalad, 2004). Canned slices, beverages, fruit bars, nectars, syrups and aseptically packed pulp are the important processed products of ripe mango fruits (Doreyappa Gowda and Huddar, 2004). Currently, various forms of mango products have good export market in South-East-Asia, Europe and U.S.A. Raw tender mango is best suited for pickle production due to its high acidity, texture and characteristic typical mango flavour. Several formulated recipes with diversified taste, flavour, aroma and texture have been developed in India both for domestic and international markets. Pruthi (1992) summarized the technological developments in unripe mango products. The quality of raw mango pickle depends mainly on the raw material and hence, varietal suitability and maturity stage play an important role in pickling. Studies on physico- chemical characteristics of some important mango varieties with respect to pickling have been carried out by many workers (Jha et al, 2003, Kambale et al, 2004; Shinde Evaluation of unique mango accessions for whole-fruit pickle C. Vasugi, K. Sekar1, M.R. Dinesh and E.R. Suresh Indian Institute of Horticultural Research Hessaraghatta Lake Post, Bangalore-560089, India E-mail: vasuc@iihr.ernet.in ABSTRACT Studies conducted to evaluate the suitability of nineteen unique mango accessions for preparation of tender whole mango pickles revealed that these varieties were characterized by their acidic taste and rich raw mango flavour, which are most prefered for pickle production. The physical and quality parameters viz. fruit shape, weight, raw mango flavour, firmness, titrable acidity, latex flow, pH, dry matter and vitamin C which are important in pickle quality, showed wide variations among different varieties. Based on the sensory evaluation of whole immature green mango pickle prepared by standard fermentation and curing method, the accessions viz., Kashimidi, Isagoor Appe, Malange, Appemidi, Dantimamidi and Jeerige were considered to be most suitable for preparation of tender mango pickles. Key words: Germplasm, raw tender mango, pickle, variability, sensory evaluation, unique accession et al, 2002). Suresh et al (1999) studied the suitability of a few acidic mango varieties for brining preservation and recommended ‘Kolanka Goa and ‘Karanjio’ as the most suitable varieties for preparation of pickles. Mango germplasm collection at IIHR, Bangalore has some unique indigenous types from the Western Ghats and peninsular regions of our country, which are the hot spots for mango industry. These unique types are gaining importance in export market because of its suitability for pickling as whole fruit (tender mangoes) called ‘midi’ in local language (Radhakrishna Holla, 2007). In order to identify suitable varieties for pickling, nineteen accessions from the germplasm of pickling type mango were evaluated and the results are presented in this paper. MATERIAL AND METHODS The study was carried out during mango season of 2007 using 19 accessions viz., Kana Appe 1, Isagoor Appe, Appemidi, Kashimidi, Adderi Jeerige, Aruna Gowda Appe, Gaddalalli Appe, Jeerige, Mani Bhatta Appe, Malange, Anantha Bhatta Appe, Balekoppa Appe, Halasage, Holekoppada Appe, Kalkuni, Kovesara, Muregeer, Tatimidi and Dantimamidi, maintained in the Institute’s Field Gene Bank. Fruits were harvested 75 days after flowering at tender green stage before formation of stony endocarp. The fruits were washed thoroughly with tap water and shade dried to remove surface water. Physical and quality 1 Department of Horticulture, Annamalai University, Annamalai Nagar, Tamil Nadu J. Hortl. Sci. Vol. 3 (2): 156-160, 2008 157 parameters were recorded using 10 fruits per accession. The quality parameters like pH, titrable acidity, Vitamin C and dry matter content were analysed as described by Ranganna (1986). The shape of fruits, raw mango flavour and quantity of latex flow from fruits were also recorded based on visual observations. The firmness was measured using Instron Universal Testing Machine model 4201 with 3 mm dia. probe and was expressed as kg/cm2. Standard dry salting process was adopted for pickling of raw tender whole mango, about 500g fruits from each variety in triplicate lots were mixed with common salt at the rate of 250g/ kg fruits. Tender whole mango and salt were spread in alternate layers in wide mouthed plastic jars of 750 ml capacity and allowed to undergo natural fermentation. At the end of 4 weeks of fermentation period, mango pickle was prepared using a standard spice recipe (Anon., 1999) for quality. The quality of freshly prepared pickle was judged by sensory evaluation as described by Ranganna (1986). A panel of ten judges evaluated the quality of the finished product with respect to colour, flavour, texture and overall quality using a rating scale of 1 to 5 for individual characters, (5-very good, 4-good, 3- average, 2-bad, 1-very bad). Statistical analysis was carried out by following standard analysis of variance as described by Panse and Sukhatme (1985). The accession with maximum overall score was rated as the best. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION The physical and quality characteristics of different mango accessions are presented in Table 1. Significant differences were observed in these quality parameters. Physical characteristics The fruit weight ranged from 17.43 g in Kanappe 1 to 191.75g in Gaddalalli Appe which is attributed to the inherent nature of different accessions and are heritable under all environments. The fruit firmness was in the range of 3.59 to 5.65 kg/cm2 in Kashimidi and Malange respectively. The accessions Mani Bhatta Appe, Isagoor Appe and Balekoppa Appe had better firmness (>5.0) which is a desirable trait for pickling. The fruit shapes recorded were elliptic, oblong and round in various accessions. The raw mango flavour is one of the most reliable traits for preparation of pickle. Nine accessions were found to possess rich raw mango flavour (Table 1). The latex flow which is also a preferable trait for pickle production was found to be medium to high in all the midi types except Kalkuni, Kovesara and Tatamidi. Quality characteristics The acidity in raw mango is one of the most important quality parameters which decides the taste and stability of pickled product. In the present study, wide Table 1. Physical and quality parameters of mango accessions evaluated for whole fruit pickle Sl.no Accession Fruit Raw mango Latex Fruit Firmness Titrable shape flavour flow weight of fruit Acidity pH Dry Vit. (g) kg/cm2 (%) matter(%) C (mg/100 g) 1 Adderi Jeerige Oblong Medium Medium 45.37 3.62 2.72 2.54 17.60 36.60 2 Anantha Bhatta Appe Elliptic Medium High 61.53 3.95 2.55 2.52 16.82 68.93 3 Appemidi Elliptic Strong High 25.23 4.32 2.67 2.98 14.19 101.30 4 Aruna Gowda Appe Elliptic Strong Medium 57.67 3.68 3.05 2.80 16.20 42.70 5 Balekoppa Appe Oblong Strong High 33.41 5.21 3.34 2.32 14.60 54.94 6 Danti Mamidi Round Medium Medium 149.87 4.75 2.56 2.41 14.62 50.63 7 Gaddalahalli Appe Round Medium Medium 191.75 4.84 2.45 2.51 19.24 54.92 8 Halasage Oblong Strong Medium 34.54 4.19 2.73 2.41 13.85 106.43 9 Holekoppada Appe Oblong Medium Medium 55.93 4.59 2.42 2.38 15.22 87.23 10 Isagoor Appe Oblong Strong High 36.47 5.16 2.85 2.90 18.94 109.6 11 Jeerige Oblong Strong High 36.30 4.86 3.26 2.26 18.88 45.75 12 Kalkuni Oblong Low Low 43.32 3.88 2.75 2.75 19.95 51.85 13 Kana Appe 1 Oblong Medium High 17.43 3.67 2.32 2.67 15.76 90.28 14 Kashimidi Oblong Strong Medium 26.07 3.59 2.66 3.00 17.80 114.10 15 Kovesara Round Low Low 54.01 4.42 2.56 2.85 18.98 76.86 16 Malange Round Strong High 30.77 5.65 3.14 2.28 17.94 36.65 17 Mani Bhatta Appe Round Strong High 173.97 5.57 3.07 2.24 18.65 64.15 18 Muregeer Oblong Medium Medium 26.94 4.16 2.89 2.95 20.08 75.03 19 Tatamidi Oblong Low Low 31.51 4.08 1.95 3.20 16.00 88.52 CD (P=0.05) 4.65 0.49 0.39 0.38 3.67 13.11 Mangoes for whole-fruit pickle J. Hortl. Sci. Vol. 3 (2):156-160, 2008 158 variations in titrable acidity ranging from 1.95% in Tatamidi to 3.34% in Balekoppa Appe was observed (Table 1). The accessions viz., Jeerige, Malange, Mani Bhatta Appe and Aruna Gowda Appe also recorded higher acidity of above 3%. The pH value ranged from 2.24 in Mani Bhatta Appe to 3.2 in Tatamidi. The accessions Malange, Jeerige, Balekoppa appe and Holekoppada appe also recorded a pH in the range of 2.26 to 2.38, which is on par with Mani Bhatta Appe (2.24). The dry matter content was in the range of 13.85% in Halasage to 20.08% in Muregeer, which is on par with Kalkuni, Gaddalalli Appe, Mani Bhatta Appe, Kovesara, Jeerige, Isagoor Appe and Anantha Bhatta Appe. The Vitamin C content was high (114.1 mg/100g) in Kashimidi to low (36.6 mg/100g) in Malange and Adderi Jeerige. All these variations observed in the quality parameters were attributed to the genetic make up of these accessions expressed with respect to their environment where they are grown. Based on the above data, it is presumed that the accessions in general possessed desirable traits for preparation of tender mango pickle. The physical and quality parameters of mango accessions after dry salting and fermentation are presented in Table 2. Significant variations were observed for physical and quality characters among different accessions. The firmness ranged from 1.57 to 3.96 (kg/cm2) in Halasage and Isagoor Appe respectively. Maximum retention of firmness (kg/cm2) was recorded in the accessions Appemidi (3.94), Jeerige (3.40), Muregeer (3.22) and Kalkuni (3.0). Dry salting is the primary step in traditional mango pickling process (Bhatnagar and Subramanyam, 1973). During the process of fermentation, the fruit firmness reduced significantly among various accessions. The osmotic effect of salt on mango results in shriveling and moisture loss. The softening phenomenon during this process makes the variety unsuitable for pickle making. After fermentation, there was a slight increase in the acidity, decrease in pH and Vitamin C content of fruits while the dry matter content increased to a greater extent. The Vitamin C content ranged from 14 mg/ 100g in Tatamidi to 52.7mg/100g in Kashimidi. The loss in Vitamin C is attributed to the decomposition by hydrolysis producing fructose (Adsule and Roy, 1974). Since Vitamin C is known to possess antioxidant property, its presence is useful in the prevention of browning and colour retention in pickles. The dry matter content was in the range of 36.28% in Dantimamidi to 58.4% in Mani Bhatta Appe. These variations could be attributed to the differential response of accessions to salt absorption during fermentation. Sensory quality of tender mango pickle The sensory quality scores of tender mango pickles made from different accessions indicated that the accession, Malange recorded the highest score for colour (4.17), which is on par with Isagoor Appe, Danti mamidi, Mani Bhatta Appe, etc. This could be attributed to the lower amount of tannins and other oxidizing compounds. The accession Mani Table 2. Physical and quality parameters of mango accessions after dry salting Sl.No Accession Firmness of fruit Titrable p H Dry Vit. C (kg/cm2) Acidity(%) weight(%) (mg/100 g) 1 Adderi Jeerige 2.85 2.91 2.44 47.46 16.50 2 Anantha Bhatta Appe 2.86 2.69 2.38 42.40 22.10 3 Appemidi 3.94 2.91 2.45 42.40 40.73 4 Aruna Gowda Appe 2.61 3.28 2.56 46.56 23.40 5 Balekoppa Appe 2.35 3.53 2.25 39.26 33.50 6 Danti Mamidi 2.63 2.65 2.32 36.28 17.10 7 Gaddalalli Appe 2.35 2.57 2.14 47.00 14.80 8 Halasage 1.57 2.48 2.36 46.86 34.70 9 Holekoppada Appe 2.68 2.65 2.24 38.18 39.72 10 Isagoor Appe 3.96 2.96 2.30 49.44 43.51 11 Jeerige 3.40 3.44 2.18 48.86 26.43 12 Kalkuni 3.00 2.88 2.41 39.86 37.54 13 Kana Appe 1 2.57 2.41 2.12 47.56 37.22 14 Kashimidi 2.90 2.75 2.63 55.42 52.70 15 Kovesara 2.62 2.88 2.55 46.41 19.74 16 Malange 1.63 3.20 2.14 45.96 17.74 17 Mani Bhatta Appe 2.46 3.28 2.09 58.40 38.15 18 Muregeer 3.22 2.97 2.39 48.20 20.72 19 Tatamidi 2.97 2.08 2.65 43.46 14.00 CD (P=0.05) 0.55 0.36 0.34 5.86 7.66 Vasugi et al J. Hortl. Sci. Vol. 3 (2):156-160, 2008 159 Bhatta Appe recorded the highest score for texture (4.08) and flavour (4.5) mainly due to the presence of higher number of flavouring compounds as indicated by intensive characteristic raw mango flavour. The overall acceptability score (4.16) and average score out of five (4.19) was higher for the accession Mani Bhatta Appe. Based on this study it is concluded that high acid mango accession Mani Bhatta Appe produces best quality pickle with better colour, texture and flavour. The accessions viz., Kashimidi, Isagoor Appe, Malange, Appemidi, Dantimamidi and Jeerige were also on par with Mani Bhatta Appe. Hence, these accessions are considered to be most suitable for preparation of tender whole mango pickles. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT The authors are thankful to the Director, IIHR, Bangalore for providing facilities. The help rendered by Mr. Dasappa, Technician, Mr. N. Ramachandra, Lab. Technician and Mrs. Sarojini Jalali, Technical Officer is gratefully acknowledged. The first author acknowledges the Department of Horticulture, Annamalai University, Chidambaram for providing an opportunity to register for doctoral work. REFERENCES Adsule, P.G. and Roy, S.K. 1974. Studies on some important commercial varieties of mango of North India in relation to canning, freezing and chemical preservation of pulp. J. Fd. Sci. Technol., 11: 257-260 Anonymous. 1999. Home scale processing and preservation of fruits and vegetables. CFTRI, Mysore, pp 27-28 Bhatnagar, H.C. and Subramanyam, H. 1973. Some aspects of preservation, processing and export of mango and its products. Ind. Fd. Packer, 27: 33-52 Doreyappa Gowda, I.N. and Huddar, A.G. 2004. Investigations on processing quality of some mango varieties, hybrids and their blends. J. Fd. Sci. Technol., 41: 154-159 Jha, K.K., Dwivedi, A.K. and Jain, B.P. 2003. Association study for pickle purpose mangoes (Mangifera indica L.). J. Res., 15: 135-136 Kamble, A.B., Karale, A.R., Garad, B.V., Shirsath, H.K. and More, T.A., 2004. Selection of seedling mango types for pickling characters. J. Maharashtra Agril. Uni., 29: 348-349 Maneepun, S. and Yunchalad, M. 2004. Developing processed mango products for international markets. Acta Hort., 645: 93-106 Panse, V.G. and Sukhatme, P.V 1985. Statistical methods for agricultural workers. Fourth edition, ICAR, New Delhi Pruthi, J.S. and Badekar, S.V., 1963. Studies on varietal trials in salting and brining of raw mango slices for subsequent use in chutney and pickle manufacture. Punjab Hortl. J., 3: 264-271 Table 3. Sensory evaluation of tender mango pickle Sl.No Accession Colour Texture Taste Overall Average score (Appearance) (Flavour) quality out of 5 1 Adderi Jeerige 3.50 3.15 3.75 3.45 3.46 2 Anantha Bhatta Appe 3.35 2.55 3.45 3.25 3.15 3 Appemidi 3.90 3.75 4.12 3.95 3.93 4 Aruna Gowda Appe 3.90 3.80 3.60 3.83 3.78 5 Holekoppada Appe 3.30 2.95 3.60 3.21 3.27 6 Danti Mamidi 4.10 4.00 4.00 4.00 4.03 7 Gaddalalli Appe 3.48 3.71 3.85 3.81 3.71 8 Halasage 3.60 3.10 2.95 3.12 3.19 9 Balekoppa Appe 3.95 3.42 4.00 3.75 3.78 10 Isagoor Appe 4.15 3.85 4.25 4.05 4.08 11 Jeerige 4.00 3.70 3.85 3.95 3.88 12 Kalkuni 3.20 3.70 3.85 3.50 3.56 13 Kana Appe 1 3.70 3.10 3.80 3.45 3.51 14 Kashimidi 4.00 3.90 4.00 4.13 4.01 15 Kovesara 3.50 3.51 3.94 3.60 3.64 16 Malange 4.17 4.00 4.04 4.04 4.06 17 Mani Bhatta Appe 4.00 4.08 4.51 4.16 4.19 18 Muregeer 3.51 3.17 3.44 3.26 3.35 19 Tatamidi 4.00 3.55 3.00 3.75 3.58 CD (P=0.05) 0.42 0.33 0.32 0.34 J. Hortl. Sci. Vol. 3 (2):156-160, 2008 Mangoes for whole-fruit pickle 160 Pruthi, J.S. 1992. Simple innovations in mango processing technology. Ind. Fd. Packer, 46: 45-55 Radhakrishna Holla, 2007. Guna, Vaishistathegala Khajane Vanya Jaathiya maavu thaligalu-Sujatha Sanchike, May pp. 17-23 Ranganna, S. 1986. Handbook of Analysis and Quality Control for Fruit and Vegetable Products, Second Edition, Tata Mc Graw Hill Publishing Company Ltd., New Delhi p. 1 -1112 Shinde, A.K., Joshi, G.D., Waghmare, G.M. and Patil, B.P. 2002. Development of pickle purpose mango varieties cv. Konkan ruchi. Maharashtra Agril. Uni., 26: 300-302 Suresh, E.R., Rajashekhara, E., Yadav, I.S. and Dinesh, M.R. 1999. Evaluation of high acid mango varieties for brining preservation. Beverage Fd. World, 26: 41-42 (MS Received 15 November, 2007, Revised 21 July 2008) Vasugi et al J. Hortl. Sci. Vol. 3 (2):156-160, 2008