Background: The Ghanaian mango industry relies heavily on Florida cultivars (Haden, Kent, Palmer, and Keitt) for fresh and processed mangoes traded locally and for export. Haden, Kent, Palmer, and Keitt mango cultivars all perform well under the climatic conditions in Ghana.
Purpose: Physiologically matured fruits of Haden, Kent, Palmer,
and Keitt mango varieties were used for the experiment. The fruits were held at
ambient (29-31oC) and simulated transit temperature (10-13oC)
conditions for ripening and shelf life studies. Quality, which includes fruit
firmness, ripening, weight, and spoilage, was assessed and used to determine
the ripening quality and shelf life of stored fruits.
Research Method: A Completely Randomized Design with four
replications was used. For each of the four varieties, five mango trees were
sampled at random in each of the four replications of a mango plantation when
fruits were physiologically matured. Fruits were randomly picked from these
sample trees to accomplish the objectives of the study. A computerized texture
analyzer (TA-XT2) was used to determine fruit firmness and the ‘bio-yield
point’ of the mangoes by penetration.
Findings: For both ambient and simulated-transit temperature
conditions, Kent (4.09 days and 3.85 days, respectively) and Keitt (4.08 days
and 3.92 days, respectively) fruits stored longer. Haden fruits ripened
significantly earlier (9.50 days and 3.5 days, respectively) than Keitt fruits
(11.01 days and 5 days, respectively). Ripening time was statistically not
different (p>0.05) among Haden, Kent, and Palmer fruits. Softness, color,
and decay were limiting quality factors for all mango fruits stored at both
temperature conditions. Higher shriveling rates were observed in Haden and
Palmer fruits with a slight preponderance of the former, for both conditions.
Average weight loss was highest (6.50 % and 3.31%, respectively) for Haden and
lowest (4.09% and 2.34%, respectively) for Keitt, but generally lower in fruits
stored under transit conditions.
Conclusion: The study concluded that Kent and Keitt fruits store
better than Haden and Palmer fruits under both ambient and transit conditions
and are therefore recommendable for sea freight or for longer distances where
relatively much time is spent before delivery, while Haden and Palmer fruits
are recommendable for air freight. The attributes obtained from the quality
evaluations for the different temperature regimes showed that a single quality
attribute cannot be used to express the loss of quality of mango fruit over the
normal physiological range of mango fruit growth and development.
Research Limitations: No limitations to the report.
Originality/Value: A single quality attribute cannot be used to
express loss of quality of mango fruit over the normal physiological range of
mango fruit growth and development.
Author
(s) Details
Moomin
Abu
Department of Horticulture, Faculty of Agriculture, Food and
Consumer Sciences, University for Development Studies, Nyankpala, Northern
Region, Ghana.
Nana
Sakyiwa Olympio
Department of Horticulture, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science
and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana.
Joseph
Ofei Darko
Department of Agricultural Engineering, Faculty of Engineering,
Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana.
Please see the book here:- https://doi.org/10.9734/bpi/crpas/v5/2633
