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Description: Deep orange, aromatic, and built for a bowl you guard closely.

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# Kesar

Deep orange, aromatic, and built for a bowl you guard closely.

![A market display of green and yellow Kesar mangoes](https://mangoranking.com/fruit/photos/kesar-photo-v1.jpg)

Kesar mangoes photographed at a market in Mumbai, Maharashtra, by Dr. Raju Kasambe.

Mango Kesar Indian variety IMG 20230603 114021 (2).jpg — Dr. Raju Kasambe. [Photograph source](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mango_Kesar_Indian_variety_IMG_20230603_114021_%282%29.jpg) · [CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0).

Resized for display; complete frame retained. No generative edits.

## How it tastes

Rich sweetness · Citrus lift · Fragrant

**Texture**

juicy

**Fibre**

Low fibre

**Eating styles**

Get sticky

**Harvest**

[See regional calendars](https://mangoranking.com/seasons.md)

## How to enjoy it

Gir Kesar is associated with Gujarat’s Gir region. Its name points to the rich colour of the pulp. Smooth, fragrant flesh lends itself to aamras: a bowl of ripe mango pulp to scoop up with puri or eat with a spoon.

Press ripe flesh into a smooth aamras. Try it with warm puri, or chill a small bowl for dessert.

## When it is ripe

Wait for a sweet, resinous aroma and a slight give.

Flavour notes are subjective. Ripeness, handling and growing conditions change the fruit.

[Compare this mango](https://mangoranking.com/compare.md?mango=kesar) · [Saved mangoes](https://mangoranking.com/passport.md)

Names, history & sources

## Recorded names

A shared name does not by itself establish an identical cultivar. Place, language and source matter.

**Kesar**

Saffron: the colour behind the recorded naming account.

- [FNB News: Gir Kesar history, reporting Junagadh Agricultural University (2011)](https://www.fnbnews.com/Top-News/Gir-Kesar-Mango-earns-GI-tag-improves-prospects-of-prices-and-exports)

- [Varu, Barad & Dhruj: Geographical indication of Kesar Mango (2017)](https://indianjournals.com/article/ijih-6-1-008)

**Gir Kesar**

The regional identity associated with the Gir growing area.

- [FNB News: Gir Kesar history, reporting Junagadh Agricultural University (2011)](https://www.fnbnews.com/Top-News/Gir-Kesar-Mango-earns-GI-tag-improves-prospects-of-prices-and-exports)

- [Varu, Barad & Dhruj: Geographical indication of Kesar Mango (2017)](https://indianjournals.com/article/ijih-6-1-008)

**Sale Bhai ni Ambadi**

Earlier name preserved in the historical account reported from Junagadh.

- [FNB News: Gir Kesar history, reporting Junagadh Agricultural University (2011)](https://www.fnbnews.com/Top-News/Gir-Kesar-Mango-earns-GI-tag-improves-prospects-of-prices-and-exports)

- [Varu, Barad & Dhruj: Geographical indication of Kesar Mango (2017)](https://indianjournals.com/article/ijih-6-1-008)

## The colour that became a name

Documented history: consult the claims and qualifications in the cited sources.

Before Kesar became a famous name, historical accounts call the mango Sale Bhai ni Ambadi. Reporting based on Junagadh Agricultural University’s work describes grafts being spread from its mother tree and moved to the state’s Sakkar Bagh and Lal Dhori gardens. Horticulturist Ayengar studied the fruit there.

The same account dates its naming to 25 May 1934: Junagadh’s Nawab Mahabat Khan recognised the saffron colour of the ripe pulp and called it Kesar. The fruit’s name makes that moment visible every time it is cut open. Gir Kesar also names a place: the growing country around Gir, whose particular reputation received geographical-indication recognition.

[Read the full story](https://mangoranking.com/stories/kesar.md)

- [FNB News: Gir Kesar history, reporting Junagadh Agricultural University (2011)](https://www.fnbnews.com/Top-News/Gir-Kesar-Mango-earns-GI-tag-improves-prospects-of-prices-and-exports)

- [Varu, Barad & Dhruj: Geographical indication of Kesar Mango (2017)](https://indianjournals.com/article/ijih-6-1-008)

## Places in this record

Country associations alone do not establish botanical origin.

- **India**

  Catalogue association

  Associated place in the tasting catalogue; this does not establish botanical origin.

- **Vanthali and Junagadh, Gujarat**

  A place in the story

  Setting of “The colour that became a name”. Read the story for its evidence and qualifications.

  - [FNB News: Gir Kesar history, reporting Junagadh Agricultural University (2011)](https://www.fnbnews.com/Top-News/Gir-Kesar-Mango-earns-GI-tag-improves-prospects-of-prices-and-exports)

  - [Varu, Barad & Dhruj: Geographical indication of Kesar Mango (2017)](https://indianjournals.com/article/ijih-6-1-008)

[Harvest calendars by growing place](https://mangoranking.com/seasons.md). These regional calendars do not specify this cultivar’s exact season.

## Sources

- [FNB News: Gir Kesar history, reporting Junagadh Agricultural University (2011)](https://www.fnbnews.com/Top-News/Gir-Kesar-Mango-earns-GI-tag-improves-prospects-of-prices-and-exports)

- [Varu, Barad & Dhruj: Geographical indication of Kesar Mango (2017)](https://indianjournals.com/article/ijih-6-1-008)

- [Kesar: variety reference](https://apeda.gov.in/sites/default/files/files_universal_page/2024-05/Mango_brochure.pdf)

[Back to mangoes](https://mangoranking.com/explore.md)
