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Title: Incidence of chilling injury in fresh-cut 'Kent' mangoes

Author
item DEA, SHARON - UNIV OF FLORIDA
item BRECHT, JEFFREY - UNIV OF FLORIDA
item NUNES, MARIA C - UNIV OF FLORIDA
item Baldwin, Elizabeth - Liz

Submitted to: American Society of Horticulture Science Meeting
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/10/2008
Publication Date: 7/21/2008
Citation: Dea, S., Brecht, J.K., Nunes, M.N., Baldwin, E.A. 2008. Incidence of chilling injury in fresh-cut 'Kent' mangoes. HortScience. 43:1148

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: The preferred storage temperature for fresh-cut fruits in terms of visual quality retention is around 5 °C, which is considered to be a chilling temperature for chilling sensitive tropical fruits like mango (Mangifera indica L.). Changes in visual and compositional quality factors, aroma volatile production, respiration rate, and electrolyte leakage were evaluated in whole and fresh cut ‘Kent’ mangoes stored for 10 days at chilling (5 °C) and non-chilling (12 °C) temperatures. The experiment was repeated twice during two Florida mango seasons from two different sources; tissue firmness was measured in the second experiment only. Whole fruit (control) were stored along with the fresh-cut mango slices and processed as such on the days of analysis. Soluble solids content and aroma volatile production (based on the quantification of 16 aroma volatiles) did not differ among whole fruit and fresh-cut slices stored at chilling or non-chilling temperatures for both experiments, with the exception of ethanol, which was higher in whole fruit and slices stored at 12°C. Visual quality degradation was faster at 12 °C than at 5 °C, limiting the shelf life to between 3 and 4 days at 12 °C vs. 5 to 6 days at 5 °C. The respiration rate, pH, and total ascorbic acid were highe r in the fruit stored at 12 °C, while titrable acidity was higher at 5°C. Electrolyte leakage was higher in fresh-cut slices than in whole fruit, but no conclusion could be made as to the effect of storage temperature. It is unclear whether the storage period at 5 °C was sufficiently long to cause chilling (CI) in fresh-cut mango slices since no visual CI symptoms developed in whole fruit. However, reduced ascorbic acid content and increased softening at 5 °C suggest that the fresh-cut slices did experience chilling stress.