Controlled atmosphere storage of mango cultivars ‘Alphonso’ and ‘Banganapalli’ to extend storage-life and maintain quality

Summary An investigation was carried out on two commercial mango cultivars in India, ‘Alphonso’ and ‘Banganapalli’, to determine the optimum controlled atmosphere (CA) composition and to investigate the effect of pre-storage hot water (HW) treatment on the quality of fruit stored under the optimum CA. In the first experiment, mature green fruit of ‘Alphonso’ and ‘Banganapalli’ were stored at 13°C in CAs containing 5% O2 + 5% CO2; 3% O2 + 5% CO2; 5% O2 + 3% CO2; or 3% O2 + 3% CO2. CA storage in 5% O2 significantly reduced the respiratory and ethylene peaks during ripening in both cultivars; but CAs containing 3% O2 + 5 CO2 in ‘Alphonso’, and 3% O2 + 3% CO2 in ‘Banganapalli’, resulted in abnormal respiration and ethylene production behaviour. CA storage at 13°C in 5% O2 + 5% CO2 for ‘Alphonso’, and in 5% O2 + 3% CO2 for ‘Banganapalli’, extended their storage-life by 4 and by 5 weeks, respectively; followed by an additional week to become fully ripe under ambient conditions (25° – 32°C). After removal from CA, fruit stored under optimum CA conditions ripened normally to a bright-yellow skin colour, with higher fruit firmness, total soluble solids, total carotenoid and sugar contents, and an acceptable organoleptic quality. HW treatment prior to CA storage at 13°C was found to affect quality attributes such as ascorbic acid, total carotenoids and sugar contents in both cultivars. ‘Alphonso’ mangoes stored for > 4 weeks under CA at 13°C tended to ripen to an inferior quality, with lower firmness, carotenoid, ascorbic acid and sugar contents, irrespective of their pre-CA storage treatment. In contrast, fruit of ‘Banganapalli’ ripened normally and to a good quality, even after 5 weeks in CA storage.