Carabao (Strain: Sweet Elena) / Manila Super / Champagne Mango

Carabao (Sweet Elena) / Manila Super / Champagne Mango

Sweet Elena is the pride of Zambales in the Philippines, and one of the most celebrated strains of the Carabao mango — the Philippines’ national fruit, exported worldwide as Manila Super or Champagne mango. 

Its origin is a single mother tree — reported as 108 years old in 2004 — standing in a five-hectare orchard at Sabang, Sta. Cruz, Zambales, owned by Penida Moselina Malabed. That one tree was reported to yield 2.4 metric tons of fruit per season. The strain was discovered and identified by Dr. Ester Mariñas and Prof. Remedios Lim of the Ramon Magsaysay Technological University (RMTU), San Marcelino campus.

Sweet Elena carries the classic Carabao form — slender, elongated and kidney-shaped — on a notably larger scale: an average weight of 400 grams. The skin/peel ripens a warm orange, with a peel thinner than Guimaras’ Super Galila — over yellow-orange flesh of soft texture. The seed is small, giving an exceptional edible portion of 83.24% besides being polyembryonic. Sweetness has been measured at 19.5 °Brix. However, in West Bengal, India, its TSS reached 22 °Brix in 2025. The taste is excellent with good flavour and aroma. In three-year RMTU trials conducted in coordination with BPI (Bureau of Plant Industry), Sweet Elena outperformed the Carabao strains like Guimaras’ Talaban and Fresco, Ilocos’ MMSU Gold and Zambales’ own Lamao on weight, sweetness, soluble solids, flesh edibility and appearance, and Dr. Roberto Coronel of UPLB’s Institute of Plant Breeding, an NSIC member, recommended it as the best Carabao strain for commercialisation.

The main Zambales crop falls in the Philippine summer, opening with the province’s Dinamulag Mango Festival each March/April. In West Bengal, India, Sweet Elena ripens in the last week of May / first week of June. In some years (not every year), Sweet Elena bears twice - in the season as well as in the off-season (October/November).

The growth habit of Sweet Elena is vigorous. However, the height can be controlled through regular pruning.

Sweet Elena has wide commercial applications. Besides being consumed domestically and exported for table purpose, Sweet Elena is used for making juices, ice creams, dried mango pulps etc.