Respiration and production of ethanol and ethylene in mangoes stored under different concentrations of carbon dioxide and oxygen.
Bender R. J., Brecht J.
Author Affiliation: Dep. de Horticultura e Silvicultura, UFRGS, CEP 91510-970 Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.
Pesquisa Agropecuária Brasileira 35 : 865-871
Abstract : Pre-climacteric mangoes cv. Kent and Tommy Atkins were stored for 14 or 21 days at 12°C in 5, 15, 25, 35, 45, 50 or 70% CO2 plus 21, 5 or 3 O2 in a flow-through controlled atmosphere (CA) system. In the control treatment fruits were stored in air at the same temperature and also in the flow-through system. After CA storage the mangoes were kept for 5 days in air at 20°C. Mangoes stored in 50 or 70% CO2 had the highest ethanol production rates. The reduction to 3% of the O2 concentration in the storage atmosphere did not appear to have an additional effect on ethanol production. Respiratory rates of mangoes exposed to more than 45% CO2 were higher than in the other treatments, while ethylene production rates were lower. After transfer to air at 20°C, respiration rates of mangoes from these treatments dropped significantly below control levels, which, associated with lower rates of ethylene production, indicate that the mangoes had been damaged by the elevated CO2 atmospheres.