Respiration and ripening patterns in the life cycle of the mango fruit.
Lakshminarayana S.
Author Affiliation: Central Food Technological Research Institute, Mysore-2A, India.
Journal of Horticultural Science 48 : 227-233
Abstract : Alphonso mangoes picked at any stage of maturity (starting from fruit set) and stored at room temperature showed typical respiratory changes characteristic of a fully matured mango. Fruits picked during the earlier and later stages of development showed a respiration climacteric within 6 - 10 days. During the middle stages of development the climacteric occurred after 10 days. Fully mature, tree-ripe mangoes did not show a respiratory climacteric during post-harvest storage. Chemical constituents, such as titratable acids, apparent ascorbic acid, carbohydrates and carotenoids also showed a similar pattern of change in frut at different stages of maturity. The possibilities of reducing losses from pre-harvest fruit drop and post-harvest decay by early harvesting are discussed.