Alphonso (mango) - Overview

Overview

The Alphonso Mango is named after Afonso de Albuquerque. This was an exquisite and expensive variety of mango, that he used to bring on his journeys to Goa. The locals took to calling it Aphoos in Konkani and in Gujarati and Maharashtra the pronunciation got further transformed to Hapoos. This variety then was taken to the region of Maharashtra, South & central Gujarat and other parts of India.

The southern district of Ratnagiri and south northern parts of Sindhudurg in Maharashtra state, including regions around the Dapoli and Devgad Talukas, the southern districts of Valsad and Navsari in Gujarat state and particularly Alphonso mangoes from the Amalsad region (including villages such as Dhamadachha, Kacholi, and all villages of Gandevi) produce the finest quality of alphonso mangoes in India. Southern States in India are also major mango producing areas. From north to south, climatic changes occur which result in differences in the quality of the produce. In Gujarat and Maharashtra, the finest fruit comes from a patch of 20 km from the seashore.

It's also the most expensive amongst the sub-breeds of Alphonso. In most of the Indian market sub-varieties are fetching the price of good quality alphonso. These varieties neither have the sweetness, nor have the flavour of hapoos.

The Alphonso is generally referred to as 'Hapoos' throughout South Asia. Haapus is used to make sweets, candies and smoothies - Mango Milkshake, Mango Lassi (both smoothies), Aamba-Wadi (a somewhat chewy sweet), Aam-Ras (Mango pulp which is eaten with puris - an Indian Bread), Keri-no-Ras (Mango Pulp as known in Gujarati), Sakhar Amba (Marathi word for a home-made mango jelly/jam), Mango barfi (see Barfi), etc.

Non aerated Mango drinks like Frooti (Parle Agro Co.), Jumpin (Godrej Industries Ltd), Maaza (Coca Cola Co.), Dukes Mangola and Slice (PepsiCo Inc.) are very popular in India. Many other local brands are also available.