Quality of 'Kensington' mango (Mangifera indica Linn.) fruit following combined vapour heat disinfestation and hot water disease control treatments.
Jacobi K. K., Giles J. E.
Author Affiliation: Horticulture Postharvest Group, Queensland Department of Primary Industries, 19 Hercules Street, Hamilton, Queensland 4007, Australia.
Postharvest Biology and Technology 12 : 285-292
Abstract : Changes in the quality of Kensington mangoes harvested at the green mature stage from the 2 major production regions in Queensland, Australia (Ayr and Mareeba) were measured after either a vapour heat treatment (VHT) in which seed surface temperature was held at 47°C for 15 min, or a hot water (HW) disease control treatment of 53° for 5 min prior to VHT, combined with either storage at 10° for 5 days followed by 22° for 5 days or storage at 22° for 10 days. Fruits from the VHT and HW + VHT treatments had higher skin colour ratings, reflectance and chroma values, and lower hue angles than untreated fruits, after both storage durations, indicating an enhancement of ripening. Skin browning was more severe on VHT fruits than on HW + VHT or control fruits and lenticel spotting was more severe on VHT and HW + VHT fruits than on control fruits. Both were more severe after storage at 10/22° than after storage at 22°. Skin browning was more severe on fruits from Ayr than from Mareeba. There were no differences in eating quality between fruits from different heat treatments or storage regimes. The HW + VHT treatment combined with continuous storage at 22° resulted in the highest quality fruits, and is recommended for air freight marketing.