When mango trees lose nearly all their leaves during fruit development, they drain stored sugars and starch from their trunks and roots to keep fruit growing — but the following season's harvest still suffers, revealing a lasting reproductive cost to severe leaf loss.
1
Near-complete defoliation (retaining only 40 leaves, under 0.5% of normal) during rapid fruit growth reduced whole-tree fruit carbohydrate content to one-third of control trees by the end of the first season.
2
In the second season after defoliation, carbohydrate concentrations in fruit recovered to normal levels, but fewer trees fruited and overall yields remained lower, confirming a lasting reproductive impact beyond the immediate stress year.
3
Organ-specific reserve roles were hierarchical: trunks and coarse roots acted as long-term starch banks (deeply depleted then strongly rebuilt), branches and medium roots as intermediate buffers, and shoots, leaves, and pedicels as rapid short-term sugar stores.
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