Hot water treatment to regulate ripening and reduce spoilage of Alphonso mangoes.
Lakshminarayana S., Krishnaprasad C. A., Shetty M. S.
Author Affiliation: Central Food Technological Research Institute, Karnataka, India.
Journal of Horticultural Science 49 : 365-371
Abstract : Mangoes, cv. Alphonso, were harvested at various stages of maturity during 1971-72 and hot-water treated at 54 plus or minus 1 deg C for 5 min to regulate ripening and control post-harvest microbial spoilage. The treatment accelerated ripening and reduced spoilage by more than 50%, compared with control fruits. Fruit at an early stage of maturity generally ripened more slowly and therefore had a longer storage life than fully mature fruit. In less mature fruit hot-water treatment hastened the onset of the respiratory climacteric by 3-6 days but had no effect on more mature fruit. Fruit treated with hot water showed a higher weight loss and improved surface colour and marketability without the flavour being affected.ADDITIONAL ABSTRACT:Alphonso mangoes were harvested at various stages of maturity during 1971-72 and given hot water treatment (54 deg C plus or minus 1 deg ) for 5 min. The treatment accelerated ripening and reduced post harvest microbial spoilage by >50%. Fruit at an early stage of maturity had a longer storage life than fully mature fruit. Hot water hastened the onset of the respiratory climacteric by 3-6 days in the former but had no effect on the latter. Fruit treated with hot water showed a higher physiological weight loss, and improved surface colour and marketability without the flavour being affected.