Effect of Hot Water Treatment on Quality and Incidence of Postharvest Disease of Mango (Mangifera indicia L.) Fruits

摘要

Mango (Mangifera indica L.) is an evergreen tree grown throughout subtropical and tropical regions. The mango fruit is one of the highly consumed and popular fruits throughout the world. As a fruit, it is liable to postharvest losses as a result of physiological deterioration and pathogen infection. In order to minimize the postharvest losses and extend shelf life, postharvest treatments are given to the fruit after harvest. Among the postharvest treatments, hot water treatment is the one and should be applied at the beginning of the packing or packing process for improved quality and shelf life of mango. Mango anthracnose, a major postharvest disease, induces huge losses in mangoes and threatens mango export and consumption. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of hot water treatment on the quality and control of postharvest fungal disease. The experiment was carried out in the laboratory of postharvest physiology, Jimma University from April to May 2014, using CRD factorial arrangement of treatments replicated three times. Two factors were considered as a treatment; temperature and time (duration) of treatment. There were three levels of temperature (48, 50 and 52 C) and two levels of time (5 and 10 min). Accordingly, the experiment had six factorial and one control treatments with three replications making a total of 21 experimental units. Mango fruits of local variety were used for the study that was brought from Sarboo district, Jimma zone. The result of the study showed that hot water treatment highly significantly (p<0.001) affected weight loss and disease incidence (anthracnose) during storage time. In addition, hot water treatment significantly (p<0.05) affected the pH and TA value of mango fruit but had no significant effect on the total soluble solids and sugar acidity ratio of the fruits