An official in Australia’s Northern Territory has proposed that a new mango variety be named after the country’s pop singer Kylie Minogue.
Northern Territory Primary Industry Minister Kon Vatskalis said Ms Minogue would be lucky to have the new mango named after her, reported the ABC.
“She is the princess of pop and just like royalty it would be fitting to have a Territory icon named after her,” Mr Vatskalis said.
“I am even going to send Ms Minogue a batch of these mangoes to get her to be one of the first in Australia to try this new variety.”
The mango is one of three new varieties announced last year, after 15 years of development by the Departments of Primary Industries in Western Australia, the Northern Territory and Queensland in concert with Australian crown research body the CSIRO.
Due to hit Austalian supermarket shelves by the end of 2012 in limited volumes, Mr Vatskalis hoped the new mangoes would also prove a winner for exporters.
“These three varieties of mango will hopefully give producers a new product for the domestic and export markets, while consumers will benefit from an improvement in the quality of fruit,” Mr Vatskalis told the ABC.
“The mangoes under trial retain the sweet rich Kensington Pride taste, but are highly coloured with greater external blush, making them more appealing to consumers.”
