Morphological characterization of traditional mango variety karpooram (Mangifera indica) in southern Kerala

Karpooram is a traditional mango variety found mainly in the homesteads of southern Kerala viz., Kollam, Pathanamthitta, Thiruvananthapuram, districts. The fruit of this variety has a characteristic flavor of Karpooram or camphor. This is a table variety with medium to large fruit size, high pulp content, less fibrous flesh compared to other traditional mango varieties. The study was conducted at the Farming Systems Research Station, Sadanandapuram, Kerala Agricultural University during 2018 - 2020 to evaluate the various accessions of traditional mango variety Karpooram in Southern Kerala. During the survey, a good number of Karpooram mango trees were located in Kollam district. Fruit weight varied between 250g to 675g. The tree is moderately vigorous with spreading habit. The values for other characteristics like inflorescence (12.6 cm - 38.6 cm0, inflorescence width (7.4 cm - 31.2 cm), inflorescence shape from pyramidal to broadly pyramidal, inflorescence colour from cream and pink flowers, inflorescence position is mostly terminal, petiole length (1.7 cm - 6.5 cm), leaf length (13.5 cm - 27.9 cm), leaf width (3.2 cm - 7.2 cm), tree height varies from tall to medium (6.2 m - 12.4 m) were observed. Fruit bearing type was solitary. Highest TSS (20⁰ brix) was reported from accession KLM 35 and KLM 36, lowest acidity of 0.32 per cent was reported from KLM 21, KLM 22, KLM 32 , KLM 33 and PTA 2. Highest carotenoid content of 4.89 mg/100g was reported from KLM 26, highest ascorbic acid content of 30 mg/ 100g was reported from KLM 32. Highest total sugar content of 18.6 per cent was reported from KLM-21. Reducing sugar content (3.6%) was highest in KLM 33.Highest fruit number of 800 was reported from accession KLM 21.