Two month old leaves with identical positions on the tree in three cultivars of mango viz. Malaviya Bhog, Amrapalli and Mallika were used for observations on several leaf characteristics, such as, leaf area, water content, SLA, diffusion resistance, transpiration rate, chlorophyll content and rate of photosynthesis. Calculations of the rate of photo-synthesis were also made on the basis of chlorophyll content, leaf fresh weight and leaf dry weight.
The cultivar Malaviya Bhog had larger leaves, low SLA (thinner leaves) and higher leaf water content. Amrapalli and Mallika had higher rates of transpiration and photosynthesis and higher chlorophyll content than Malaviya Bhog. When expressed on the basis of fresh weight, chlorophyll content was found to be similar in all the cultivars but photosynthesis turned out to be highest in Malaviya Bhog.
The high rates of photosynthesis exhibited on the basis of chlorophyll content in Malaviya Bhog indicated the higher chlorophyll efficiency of this cultivar. It has been suggested that the lower chlrophyll efficiency in Amrapalli and Mallika was related to the thicker leaves of these cultivars.
