Quality of Bocado mango fruits matured on and off the plant.
Briceño S., Zambrano J., Materano W., Quintero I., Valera A.
Author Affiliation: ULA. Núcleo Universitario Rafael Rangel, Grupo de Investigación de Fisiología de Postcosecha, Estado Trujillo, Venezuela.
Agronomía Tropical (Maracay) 55 : 461-473
Abstract : The pre- and post-harvest maturation of mango (Mangifera indica cv. Bocado) fruits from El Batatillo, Candelaria, Trujillo, Venezuela. Physiologically mature fruits were harvested and stored at 22±2°C and 80-90% relative humidity until the stage of consumption maturity (T1). Healthy fruits of uniform size, shape and colour, and free of mechanical damage were also collected at the stage of consumption maturity (T2). Destructive and nondestructive analyses were made to evaluate fruit quality parameters, including the total sugar content, reducing sugar content, total soluble solid content, titratable acidity, dry matter content, colour parameters, and respiratory activity. Fruits that matured in the plant were comparable with the harvested fruits, except for the higher total sugar content, total soluble solid content, and hue value. The rate of CO2 production was similar in both treatments, reaching 21.994 mg kg-1 h-1 on day 6 in harvested fruits and 22.68 mg kg-1 h-1 on day 7 in harvested fruits. These results suggested the advantages of harvesting physiologically mature fruits to reduce losses by excessive maturation during commercialization.