Mangifera indica L.

Family : Anacardiaceae

Synonym(s) : Mangifera amba Forsk., Mangifera domestica Gaertn., Mangifera gladiata Boj., Mangifera racemosa Boj., Mangifera rubra Boj.

English Name : Mango

Origin : Southern Asia, especially eastern India, Burma, and the Andaman Islands

Description

A large, evergreen tree, 10 to 45 m tall, with a heavy, dome-shaped crown and a straight, stout bole. Bark thick, rough, dark grey, flaking off when old. Leaves linear-oblong or elliptic-lanceolate, 10 to 30 cm long and 2 to 9 cm wide, with an aromatic, resinous odour. Inflorescence a large panicle, containing up to 3000 flowers; flowers tiny, reddish-white or yellowish-green, with a pungent odour; staminate and hermaphrodite flowers borne in the same panicle. Fruit a large drupe, highly variable in form and size; fruit skin thick or thin, leathery, green, yelowish or red, often dotted with numerous glands; flesh (mesocarp) whitish-yellow, yellow or orange, firm, soft or juicy, slightly acidic to sweet, richly aromatic; fibres throughout the flesh in some varieties, absent or few in others; seed solitary, ovoid-oblique, encased in a hard, compressed, fibrous endocarp.

Habitat

Grows from sea level to 1200 m (3950 ft) in tropical latitudes; however, most commercial varieties are grown below 600 m (1950 ft); rainfall 400–3600 mm (16–140 in), fruits best with a well defined winter dry period.

Parts Used : Bark, fruit, flower and plant

Herb Effects

Astringent (bark and flower); restores and invigorates mucous membranes (bark); Diuretic, antiinflammatory, cardiotonic, promotes the formation and/or secretion of bile and antibacterial (against gram-positive strains).

Active Ingredients

Mangiferine (plant extract, leaf and bark); catechin, friedelin, butin, beta-sitosterol, leucocyanidin, fisetin and quercetin (plant extract); citric, oxalic, malic and succinic acids (unripe fruit); vitamins A and C beta-carotene and xanthophyll (ripe fruit).

Medicinal Use

In rheumatism, diphtheria and diarrhea (bark and flower); diabetes, scalds and burns (leaf); for severe bleeding, catarrh, hemoptysis, external ulcers, toothache and for preventing plaques of the teeth; in cases of diarrhea, chronic dysentery, catarrh of the bladder and chronic urethritis resulting from gonorrhea (dried mango flowers); on cracks in the feet and on scabies, and is used to treat syphilis (resinous gum from the trunk); as vermifuges and as astringents in diarrhea, hemorrhages and bleeding hemorrhoids (kernel decoction and powder); for diarrhea, fever, chest complaints, diabetes, hypertension etc (leaf decoction); scurvy and sthomachache (fruit).

Reference