Advances in post-harvest physiology of mango.
Chaplin G. R.
Author Affiliation: Plant Physiology Group, CSIRO Division of Food Research, North Ryde, NSW 2113, Australia.
: 639-648
Abstract : Research on postharvest physiology of mango carried out during the last 15 years is reviewed. Ethylene treatment in storage and CA storage, or bagging or coating of fruit, is not consistently beneficial and can give poor fruit quality due to 'off' flavours. Low pressure storage increases postharvest life but is expensive. Mangoes are susceptible to chilling injuries when stored below 12°C, probably because of physical changes in membrane lipids. There is limited evidence that chilling injuries can be reduced by gradually reducing the storage temperature to allow fruits to adapt to low temperature. Physiological disorders such as spongy-stem, soft-nose, internal breakdown and jelly seed are influenced by pre-harvest climatic and cultural factors. Treatments such as fumigation and irradiation, to increase postharvest life, are discussed. Determination of flavour components by HPLC and GC-MS are being used to supplement the subjective assessment of fruit quality by taste panels.