PRELIMINARY STUDY ON FRUIT VARIABILITY OF 'CHOK ANAN' MANGO (MANGIFERA INDICA L.)

‘Chok Anan’ is one of the popular mango cultivars in Northern Peninsular Malaysia. However, due to variability in fruits at harvest, we conducted a preliminary study to evaluate the fruit characteristics of this type of mango. During 2008 fruiting season, fruits of ‘Chok Anan’ mango were harvested from known trees source at commercial mango plot at Bukit Tangga MARDI Research Station, Kedah, Malaysia. Fruit characteristics such as fruit weight, size (length, width and thickness) and total soluble solid (TSS) were measured and recorded. The relationship between fruit characteristics was also assessed. Results showed that fruit weight, size and TSS of ‘Chok Anan’ mango at harvest varied greatly within trees. Fruit weight at harvest ranged from 144 to 315 g. In addition, TSS also varied from 16.3 to 21.2°Brix. Furthermore, highly significant correlation was found between fruit weight, size and TSS. These observations have important implications for improvement of ‘Chok Anan’ mango for breeding as well as postharvest handling purposes.