Articles
Two new mango cultivars from Australia: ‘Lady Jane’ and ‘Lady Grace’
Article number
1183_13
Pages
89 – 94
Language
English
Abstract
Worldwide, there is an ongoing need for new mango cultivars that have attractive appearance and good eating, handling and keeping quality.
However, mango hybridisation and evaluation and commercial uptake of a new variety is a long and costly endeavour that takes 20-30 years.
Only a few countries still have active mango breeding programs.
Among them, Australian public and private breeding programs have released several new cultivars in recent years.
In 2013, a private mango breeder, Ken Rayner of Katherine, NT, Australia, had two varieties granted with Australian Plant Breeder’s Rights (PBR), ‘Lady Jane’ and ‘Lady Grace’. ‘Lady Jane’ (‘Irwin’♀ × ‘R2E2’♂) was selected from a hand-pollination program in 1995. Mature unripened fruits are red, or green and red with green, turning to a rich orange on ripening.
The flesh is of a rich apricot colour, with no fibre, and is very firm and has a very fine, juicy texture, with a Brix of 14-17%. Mean fruit weight is about 400 g.
The shelf life is good to excellent, and the fruit has been kept in a household refrigerator for 4 weeks and retained its eating quality.
This variety does not have sap burn or internal quality problems. ‘Lady Grace’ is a selection from seedlings of open-pollinated ‘Irwin’ seeds.
It was selected for its small tree size, precociousness, and good fruit quality.
The fruit skin colour is red/purple and becomes deep orange red when ripe.
The flesh is deep yellow, and has a very pleasant ‘Irwin’/’Kent’-type flavour, with a Brix of above 14%. The texture is smooth and firm, with a little fibre near the seed.
The mean weight is about 350 g.
The tree is semi-dwarf and very symmetrical.
Currently, these cultivars are being planted in large quantities in Katherine and commercially trialled in South Africa and Spain.
However, mango hybridisation and evaluation and commercial uptake of a new variety is a long and costly endeavour that takes 20-30 years.
Only a few countries still have active mango breeding programs.
Among them, Australian public and private breeding programs have released several new cultivars in recent years.
In 2013, a private mango breeder, Ken Rayner of Katherine, NT, Australia, had two varieties granted with Australian Plant Breeder’s Rights (PBR), ‘Lady Jane’ and ‘Lady Grace’. ‘Lady Jane’ (‘Irwin’♀ × ‘R2E2’♂) was selected from a hand-pollination program in 1995. Mature unripened fruits are red, or green and red with green, turning to a rich orange on ripening.
The flesh is of a rich apricot colour, with no fibre, and is very firm and has a very fine, juicy texture, with a Brix of 14-17%. Mean fruit weight is about 400 g.
The shelf life is good to excellent, and the fruit has been kept in a household refrigerator for 4 weeks and retained its eating quality.
This variety does not have sap burn or internal quality problems. ‘Lady Grace’ is a selection from seedlings of open-pollinated ‘Irwin’ seeds.
It was selected for its small tree size, precociousness, and good fruit quality.
The fruit skin colour is red/purple and becomes deep orange red when ripe.
The flesh is deep yellow, and has a very pleasant ‘Irwin’/’Kent’-type flavour, with a Brix of above 14%. The texture is smooth and firm, with a little fibre near the seed.
The mean weight is about 350 g.
The tree is semi-dwarf and very symmetrical.
Currently, these cultivars are being planted in large quantities in Katherine and commercially trialled in South Africa and Spain.
Publication
Authors
K. Rayner, P. Lu
Keywords
new cultivar, hand pollination, control breeding, plant breeder’s rights (PBR), selection, ‘R2E2’, ‘Irwin’
Groups involved
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