The 'Ataúlfo' mango is a

mango A mango is an edible stone fruit produced by the tropical tree '' Mangifera indica''. It is believed to have originated in the region between northwestern Myanmar, Bangladesh, and northeastern India. ''M. indica'' has been cultivated in Sout ...

cultivar A cultivar is a type of cultivated plant that people have selected for desired traits and when propagated retain those traits. Methods used to propagate cultivars include: division, root and stem cuttings, offsets, grafting, tissue culture ...

from

Mexico Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern portion of North America. It is borders of Mexico, bordered to the north by the United States; to the so ...

. Ataulfo mangos are golden yellow and generally weigh between , with a somewhat sigmoid (oblong) shape and a gold-yellow skin. The flesh is not fibrous, and the pit is thin. They were named for grower Ataulfo Morales Gordillo. Since August 27, 2003, the Ataulfo mango is one of the 18 Mexican Designations of Origin.

Origin

The Mexican Institute of Industrial Property (Instituto Mexicano de la Propiedad Industrial) granted the designation of origin of this fruit to the government of

Chiapas Chiapas (; Tzotzil and Tzeltal: ''Chyapas'' ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Chiapas ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Chiapas), is one of the states that make up the 32 federal entities of Mexico. It comprises 124 municipalities ...

. Along with the Manilita mango, it is a descendant of the Philippine mango cultivar introduced from the Philippines to Mexico before 1779 through the

Manila-Acapulco galleon trade fil, Galyon ng Maynila , english_name = Manila Galleon , duration = From 1565 to 1815 (250 years) , venue = Between Manila and Acapulco , location = New Spain (Spanish Empire) ...

. It was crossed with other mango varieties, resulting in the Ataulfo. Regardless, Ataulfo remains a Philippine-type mango, characterized by being polyembryonic (as opposed to the Indian-type which is

monoembryonic Monoembryony is the emergence of one and only one seedling from a seed. A seed giving two or more seedlings is polyembryonic. Some of the nuclear cells surrounding the embryo sac In seed plants, the ovule is the structure that gives rise to a ...

). In 1958, the agronomist Hector Cano Flores (the discoverer of Ataulfo mango) reportedly made a clone of an Ataulfo mango which he named IMC-M2. In 2003, the Mexican government, through the Official Gazette, published Comunicado No. 14 – 2003 titled "Abstract of the application for the declaration (protection) of the Appellation of Origin: Mango Ataulfo del Soconusco Chiapas", a declaration that the term "Mango Ataulfo del Soconusco Chiapas" is an appellation of origin for a specific kind of mango fruit produced in several regions of

, Mexico where the Ataulfo was first grown by Ataulfo Morales Gordillo.

Production

The fruit grows in warm, moist climates with summer rains, but

monsoon A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annual latitudinal oscil ...

temperatures must not decline to 5 °C. The proper temperature for this type of mango is 28 °C with rainfall between 1090–3000 mm annually, from April to October. The Ataulfo mangoes originate in the Mexican states of Michoacan, Sinaloa, Nayarit, Jalisco, Veracruz and Chiapas, and are sold between March and September. In the Mexican state of

, mango production was, as of 2008, the sixth most important agricultural activity, based on cultivated surfaces, following corn, beans, coffee, sugar cane and cocoa. Ataulfo production in that state was concentrated in the Soconusco coastal region. Overall, producer organizations estimated that there were 18,000 hectares of Ataulfo mangoes in production in the state. There are several pests that influence the growth and production of the mangos including fruit flies and mango seed weevil.

Consumption

Ataulfo mangoes gained popularity in the United States beginning in the late 1990s, though they have been a major crop in Mexico for decades. As of 2009, they were the second-most popular variety of mango sold in the U.S., behind the

Tommy Atkins Tommy Atkins (often just Tommy) is slang for a common soldier in the British Army. It was certainly well established during the nineteenth century, but is particularly associated with the First World War. It can be used as a term of reference ...

. As of 2018, they represented a little less than 20% of all mangoes imported into the U.S. Until 2014, Mexican ataulfo mangoes had not been sold in significant numbers in Europe because shipping them by air was prohibitively expensive. In December 2014, shipments by sea began via one United Kingdom importer using timed pre-ripe harvesting combined with faster sea-shipping that enabled full mango ripening while in transit. European customers are willing to pay significantly more than North American customers, if the mangos are of high quality and are sold ready-to-eat.

References

{{Mangoes Mango cultivars Mexican Designation of Origin