Maha Chanok Mango Grow Guide

Depending on what part of the world you are from, this mango cultivar is sometimes referred to as Banana Mango, Rainbow Mango, Rainbow Banana Mango, etc. 🙂 

Pronounced “Ma-Ha Cha-Knock,” this mango cultivar not only has some funny nicknames, but the fruit is also funny-looking and funny-smelling. You can say it’s just an overall funny (but nevertheless delicious) mango 😄 

With that being said, this grow guide will cover everything that you need to know about Maha Chanok Mango:

Table of Contents

• Maha Chanok Mango Tree Growth Habit & Fruit Production
• Maha Chanok Mango Flavor Profile
• Maha Chanok Mango Season (And When To Pick)
• Maha Chanok Mango Disease Resistance
• Maha Chanok Mango History
• Maha Chanok Mango Tree For Sale (Where To Find)
• Conclusion

Maha Chanok Mango Tree Growth Habit & Fruit Production

The Maha Chanok Mango is considered a medium to large-sized mango tree.

Maha Chanok Mango Trees have a moderately vigorous & spreading growth habit that produces an open canopy comprised of long and lanky branches with long internodes between the leaves. As a result, Maha Chanok can realistically be kept between 15 – 20 feet tall with annual pruning. That said, Maha Chanok would not do well long-term in containers and would not be considered a “condo” mango.

What’s interesting about Maha Chanok is that they are generally slow growers for the first few years of their lives. However, the tree’s growth rate eventually becomes more vigorous as the tree ages. As a result, we should engage in effective pruning practices such as tip-pruning to encourage the tree to produce more fruit and help slow down its growth rate.

As the tree matures, Maha Chanok’s fruit production will consistently range from good to heavy. The mangos themselves are small to medium-sized fruits that typically weigh between 0.7 – 1.5 lbs.

Speaking of the fruit, Maha Chanok is one of the most unique mangos out there. The fruit itself is incredibly oblong and skinny and can best be described as tubular (hence the banana mango nickname). Despite the funny-looking shape, Maha Chanok has a very nice flesh-to-seed ratio due to the seed being very thin.

Maha Chanok Mango Flavor Profile

Maha Chanok Mangos are considered a Thai Flavored Mango.

Depending on the fruit’s sun exposure, Maha Chanok can either have an orangish-pink pastel blush covering the majority of the fruit and/or remain a flawless golden-yellow color. This is definitely an ‘Instagram Mango,’ 😄. Slicing into the fruit will reveal orangish-yellow, fiberless flesh with a silky smooth and creamy texture that is also somewhat firm.

Now, before we delve into the taste, it’s important to note that the hot-dog-like shape of this mango is not its only peculiar characteristic. Maha Chanok has a very strange and strong aroma that definitely doesn’t smell like a mango at all. In fact, if you were blindfolded and smelled the fruit, you would never guess it was a mango. This funky odor is reminiscent of turnips or parsnips.

Upon further investigation, I discovered that this really weird scent is the result of higher concentrations of Terpinolene found in the fruit. This compound is present in all mangos but seems to be much more concentrated in Maha Chanok, in particular. If you’re interested in nerding out and reading the study where I found this information, you can find it here.

From a flavor perspective, Maha Chanok Mango boasts a very sweet and aromatic floral flavor. Unlike other Thai cultivars, Maha Chanok has a balanced tartness that complements the honey-sweet flavor very well. Additionally, there is a slight acidic component to the flavor, translating to subtle melon/tangerine notes throughout the fruit. Eating near the skin also imparts an ever-so-resinous, but nevertheless delicious, ‘syrup cola’ zing.

When overripe, Maha Chanok will still be sweet, but the melon/tangerine notes become much less noticeable, and the fruit can also develop a slight carrot aftertaste. When underripe, Maha Chanok will still have the same taste profile as described above, but the sweetness and floral taste will be much less pronounced.

When comparing the flavor to other mango cultivars, there are two combinations that come in mind:

• Nam Doc Mai (Honey Sweet) + Sweet Tart (Pronounced Tartness)
• Fairchild (Tangerine Notes) + Mallika (Flower + Melon Notes)

Overall, Maha Chanok’s flavor will be mostly appreciated by those who are looking for that Thai floral flavor in addition to small amounts of both tartness and resin.

Finally, it’s worth noting that Maha Chanok Mangos produce monoembryonic seeds, which means that planting a seed from a Maha Chanok Mango won’t yield another Maha Chanok Mango Tree.

Maha Chanok Mango Season (And When To Pick)

Maha Chanok Mangos are considered a mid-season mango (June – July).

With that being said, the best time to pick Maha Chanok Mangos are when they are mature and beginning to ripen on the tree. From a color perspective, this is when the fruit is beginning to show signs of yellow color break. Maha Chanok is perfectly ripe when the majority of the fruit transitions to a beautiful golden yellow color.

Maha Chanok Mangos can also develop a beautiful orangish-pink blush all around the fruit. It’s important to remember that a mango’s blush has nothing to do with the fruit’s ripeness. A rule of thumb to remember is that More Sun = More Blush, Less Sun = Less Blush.

Aside from color, here are some additional tips to knowing when Maha Chanok Mango is ready to pick:

• Is the fruit beginning to soften?
• How does the stem look? It’s it drying up near where it connects to the fruit?
• Are there beads of sap present on the fruit?
• Is the fruit’s skin beginning to stretch?

What I really like about Maha Chanok is that they have a long shelf life. Consequently, if we were to harvest a lot of fruit at once, they can easily be enjoyed over the course of several days, as opposed to needing to eat them all right away and get mango belly 😂

Maha Chanok Mango Disease Resistance

Maha Chanok Mangos are very resistant to Anthracnose.

As a result, Maha Chanok would be an excellent addition to yards with less than ideal conditions, such as higher humidity levels and low winds.

Maha Chanok Mango History

Maha Chanok Mango is primarily grown (and extremely popular) in Thailand and is a cross between Ivory Mango and Sunset Mango. Despite its popularity in the Florida nursery trade, this cultivar has only been around in Southwest Florida for the last 10-15 years.

Maha Chanok Mango Tree For Sale (Where To Find)

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Conclusion

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Thank you for reading! 🙂

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