Geographic variation in the flavour volatiles of Alphonso mango

► Volatiles studied in ripening fruits of Alphonso mango from three locations in India. ► Ripe fruits from Dapoli had relatively higher amount of mono- and sesquiterpenes. ► Ripe fruits from Deogad had higher amount of lactones compared to two other regions. ► No such geographic variation in terms of unripe fruit volatiles was observed. ► This variation could be because of variable abiotic conditions among these locations. Alphonso, one of the most popular cultivars of mango in India is known to exhibit geographic variation in the flavour of ripe fruits. To get chemical insight into this difference, volatiles were studied in the ripening fruits of Alphonso mangoes from three cultivation locations in India. Ripe fruits from Deogad had lower content of mono- and sesquiterpenes and higher content of lactones and furanones as compared to the fruits from Dapoli; whereas fruits from Vengurle had average quantities of these chemicals in comparison with Deogad and Dapoli fruits. This variation was clearly reflected as separate clustering of the localities in the Principal Component Analysis. The localities were indistinguishable from each other in terms of raw fruit volatiles. This study exemplifies a case of phenotypic plasticity; since the plants chosen were clonally propagated, such geographic variation in the volatiles can be attributed to varied abiotic conditions at these three localities.