The Varieties Mango in Cambodia

By history of mango tree, it have been cultivated and grafted for hundred and hundred years. It is indigenous to the Indian subcontinent, belonging to the genus Mangifera, consisting of numerous species of tropical fruiting tree in the flowering plant family Anacardiaceous. Mango tree commonly cultivated in many tropical and subtropical regions, and its fruit is great distributed in the world wide.
Because of its value fruit with great flavor and the plantation is suited with soil and climate condition of the country, mango tree was spread cultivated in Cambodia. Until now there are existed of numerous mangoes tree which varieties of taste as well as shape of fruiting tree.

Mango are preparing as a gift

Moreover, as mango fruit is part of Khmer cultural since the ancestor, almost of first name’s mango tree was started by Keo, the lovely word with great meaning of Supreme, Special, sweetest, dearest … It was traditionally  used to named for Khmer lovely young girl, and the second called word usually setting suitable on its fruit shape. By my searching, I tried to collect and classify on the list and brief some histories of varieties mango tree in Cambodia. Throughout the text, I would like to introduce some of varieties mangoes tree in Cambodia which illustrated of many great photographic as below.

The great mango serves as ripe fruit

Keo Chen

Keo Chen or Keo Ktis is the most flavor with yellow-orange pigmentation, great taste of flesh, sweetest and aromatic. It is suited growing in many area of the country located along the Tonle Sap and Mekong river. However, the tastes are a bit different from one to another by soil condition of the area. Unlike other mango tree, Keo Chen bears less fruit and yield could decrease in case of the plantation lack of maintenance. That’s the reason which Keo Chen fruit is the most expensive, its price commonly increase from 10 to 20 dollars per dozen. (Typically in Cambodia almost of fruit are sell in dozen instead of weighing as kilogram).

Keo Lamiet

Keo Lamiet is another kind of mango which very common eating unripe with its great slight sour and sweet. People serves as vegetable in food such as fruit salad, and popularity eaten raw with salt, chili, or soy sauce. However the ripe mango is also great with sweeter and aromatic. It is easy growing and gives numerous fruit along year.
Keo Lamiet is the new variety mango tree which was brought from other country in recent year, then spread out over the country only in a few years. There are many and many big farm of mango tree where cultivated mostly of Keo Lamiet. Named Keo Lamiet is started from the special color yellowness of flesh that is the same to turmeric. Lamiet is Khmer word for turmeric. Keo Lamiet is the marketable fruit which is the most attracted in the country, and makes Cambodia people life great owning money by their plantation farm. Typically, one kilo of Keo Lamiet mango (it is about three fruits) cost from 0, 70 to 1 dollars at the local market.

Keo Sary

Keo Sary, I cannot find more information related its name, but refer to the word “Sary” is commonly used for people name. Therefore, it seems to demonstrate this named Sary come from the owner of the tree. Keo Sary is great flavor with flesh yellow and slight sour. The Local people like eaten on ripe fruit. However it is more great taste when fruit starting ripe. Keo Sary is the local variety mango tree which have been planted hundred years, the tree is bigger and bear fruit in numerous every seasonal. A farmer in Kien Svay district, Kandal province said that one Keo Sary mango tree can bears thousand fruits.
Keo Samlei has white flesh, so people called it Samlei, mean white cotton. It is good taste with sweet, juice, thick flesh and small seed. However, it was abounded planting recently, so that we rarely found it in the market, and also I have no picture of Keo Samlei to show now.

Keo Lamut

Keo Lamut mango has the same shape to Lamut, the sapodilla fruit, so people named it Keo Lamut. The taste is good, sweet and slight sour. Eating in ripe fruit is better than unripe. People used green fruit in house cuisine to make food with it great sour for Khmer soup Samlomachu, and also used as ingredient of soy sauce, which it great sour served with dried fish.

Keo Pong Morn

Keo Pong Morn mango, the chicken egg, because it fruit smaller than others, and looks like the chicken egg. Although it fruit is small, the great flavor with sweet flesh and aromatic. It was commonly planted in the countryside area, where it is suited growing in large yard which have good branch to bear numerous of fruits.

Keo Moung

Keo Moung is the mango tree which originally grew in Moung Russei District, Battambang province. This variety mango also has great flavor, thick flesh and sweet. The green mango can serve as fruit salad as well. People widen it fruit by grafted and planting in other area.

Keo Sruoch

Keo Sruoch, Sruoch means sharp- pointed mango, because its shape is sharp-pointed at the end edge of fruit. It is good for eaten ripe fruit while the green is very sour. Local people also like to plant it in their courtyard due to it give a good shade of tree as well as bear many fruits.

Keo Thalung

Keo Thalung in Khmer means Indian Mango. I found it at Ou Dong in Kandal province where many farmers were selling the mango as their product from home. The oldest farmer invited me to purse it, and said that the Thalung mango named was since long time, it may have taken from India. This fruit is big and great to serve in green. However the flesh ripe fruit less flavors which is soft, but have more juice and sweet with a slight sour.

Phum Sen Mango

Phum Sen Mango is the great local fruit which very popular in ripe fruit. It is easy planting in the whole country. It grows well with big tree and big shade, so bears numerous fruits. A farmer at Kien Svay district in Kandal province said that she has indoor a few Phum sen mango tree which are very old, they are remained from her grandfather who planted it. The tree is very big with many branches and large shade. Every seasonal of mango, it bears a huge deal of fruit, she earns a lot of money from selling its fruit. Phum Sen mango has great flavor with slight sour and sweeter. However, it’s not good eaten in raining season when the rain causes many white small points on its flesh of ripe fruit. Therefore, people used it to makes the great jam sweet food by stir it on slight fire in many hours,  and then dried strips in the sun. The food could used for long time and have exotic flavor.

Kbal Domrei Mango

Kabal Domrei mango is well known as the great fruit with a very big head fruit. People called it as Kabal Domrei means the elephant-head-mango. Its flesh is sweet, juicy and not sour. But has a few textures, so when eaten people like to peel it better than cut by knife.

The mango serves as unripe fruit

Svay Pome

Pome mango is commonly planted for children, especially for school children in the countryside. It only serves in green with great sweet flavor. People at BaPhnom district in Prey Veng province said that Pome mango means apple mango, cause it shape as apple fruit. It is the local mango tree easy cultivated with small tree, small fruit. Although it is cheap, which one fruit cost only 100-200 Riels, but farmers can earn lot of money by the numerous fruit every seasonal.
Keo Lahuot mango, green is the great one which very popular in used as fruit salad. Then the ripe fruit is also good flavor. Green Keo Lahuot mango is more exotic for ingredient jam mango. It makes by grated flesh, and then stirs it with sugar. It is easy planting, and bears so many fruits in used for long year. However the ripe fruits as show on the picture, just a few people recognize.

Keo Yak

Keo Yak, the name might sound very strange, in Khmer Yak means Giant. Refer to history of the mango name, many people said that since the long time, there was a couple who living nearby one forest where they used to cut trees. At once in the deep forest, they found a big mango tree which bears a very big fruits that they’ve never seen. Then they taken it to home. When many villagers saw and ask them what kind of this mango fruit, they said it named giant mango. Many times later people served it like others mango fruit as well as take it to plant in their villages. It was commonly in used as green better than ripe fruit.
Khiev Sanveih is the great mango used in green. It the new grafted mango spices from Thailand in recent year. We found its plantation in a few farm in Battambang province. Even it takes from Thailand, but the flavor is greater than while planted in Cambodia with the more suited soil condition and climate.

Khiev Sanveih Mango

There are more great varieties of mango tree in Cambodia including Keo Lahong, Keo Krohom, Keo Leak, Ktis Dorngten, Svay Makak, and many new great varieties mango which are taken from other countries. Cambodia mango fruits can serve in raw, as food in cuisine, as dessert which greater ingredient as jam.

Ktis Dorngten Mango

Mango Jam