Analysis of the Characteristics and Sugar Content of Taiwan's New Summer Snow Mango Variety
The Summer Snow has yellow skin and larger fruit, clearly different from the common Irwin mango on the market.
The Kaohsiung District Agricultural Research and Extension Station developed the new mango variety "Summer Snow," which not only has a rich fragrance but also carries the flavor of Taiwan's native mango, and it also stores longer, giving it strong export competitiveness.
The station pointed out that mango is an important fruit tree industry in Taiwan, with a current planting area of about 18,000 hectares. Native varieties, also commonly known as native mango, account for about one third, while improved mango varieties account for two thirds. Among the improved mango varieties, "Irwin" is the largest, with an area of about 7,500 hectares, followed by "Jinhuang," at about 2,400 hectares. Irwin and Jinhuang are Taiwan's main export varieties, but Irwin is susceptible to disease and Jinhuang is prone to deterioration, which not only increases production costs but also affects the development of the mango industry.
To this end, the station actively invested in variety improvement. After years of effort, it selected the large-fruited new line KMS-8302, which has the flavor of native mango, and named it "Summer Snow" in this year's production season.
Li Xueru, assistant researcher at the station, said that Summer Snow (Kaohsiung No. 3) performs extremely well in all experimental data. In the Kaohsiung-Pingtung area, the flowering period is from late December to early February, and the fruit ripening period is from May to early July. Ripe fruit has yellow skin, fruit weight is about 400 to 550 grams, sugar content is 12 to 15 degrees, and the flesh rate can reach as high as 80 percent.
Li Xueru said that Summer Snow has a rich fragrance, and at room temperature the fruit's storage life can reach six days, which is favorable for long-distance transport. The common shortcomings of Irwin and Jinhuang have clearly been improved in Summer Snow, and it will be officially promoted this year, giving consumers at home and abroad who love tasting mangoes yet another new choice.
As the mango season is under way, in order to improve Taiwan's mango production technology and provide a platform for fruit growers to exchange ideas, the station will hold a mango quality competition on May 16, and farmers are welcome to visit.
