Geographical and Climatic Effects on the Quality Attributes of Chinese Mango Fruit

Mango (Mangifera indica L.) is a commercially important fruit crop whose quality attributes are shaped by genetic background and cultivation environment, yet the relative contributions of geographic origin, climatic factors, and cultivar remain poorly resolved across China’s diverse production regions. Forty mango groups representing six major cultivars (Tainong No. 1, Jinhuang, Guifei, Guire 82, Keitt, and Eagle-mouth) were collected from four principal production provinces (Guangxi, Hainan, Sichuan, and Yunnan), spanning latitudes from 19° N to 27° N and elevations from 6 to 1668 masl. Twelve quality traits were quantified alongside nine environmental variables. PCA captured 41.2% of total variance but revealed substantial interprovincial overlap, indicating limited discriminatory power of geographic origin alone. OPLS-DA showed that mean relative humidity (VIP = 1.48) and extreme maximum temperature (VIP = 1.15) emerged as the primary environmental discriminators among the variables examined. Hierarchical clustering revealed that samples from the same province were frequently dispersed across multiple clusters, further highlighting the apparent role of cultivar-specific genetic factors. Pooled Pearson correlation analysis showed that fruit-quality variation was associated mainly with cultivar: cultivar correlated significantly with total soluble solids (r = 0.598), carotene (r = 0.535), and pectin (r = 0.525), whereas environment–quality associations were weak and exploratory, with only two nominally significant correlations (extreme maximum temperature with carotene, r = −0.332, and with moisture, r = 0.327). These findings suggest that mango fruit quality is governed predominantly by cultivar, with local microclimate and geographic provenance serving as modulating factors. Such insights offer preliminary evidence-based guidance for regional cultivar deployment and quality-oriented orchard management, particularly in cultivar selection for targeted fresh-market and processing applications.