On-Tree Fruit Bagging and Cold Storage Maintain the Postharvest Quality of Mango Fruit
Atif Nadeem, Zienab F. R. Ahmed, Syed Bilal Hussain, Alaa El-Din K. Omar, Muhammad Amin, Saqib Javed, Amjad Ali, Sami Ullah, Kashif Razzaq, Ishtiaq A. Rajwana, Shafa Nayab, Vasileios Ziogas, Shamel M. Alam‐Eldein, Amany M. Mira
Abstract
The present study investigates the influence of on-tree fruit bagging on the quality and shelf life of mango (Mangifera indica L. cv. ‘Samar Bahisht Chaunsa’) during cold storage (12 °C ± 1; 85–90% RH) for 0, 10 and 20 days (d) and subsequent shelf storage under ambient conditions (25 °C ± 1; 60–65% RH). Fruits were covered with brown paper bags at the marble stage and then harvested at commercial maturity. Results showed that 0 d and 10 d cold-stored fruits, irrespective of bagging treatments, retained eatable quality and shelf-life up to 7 d and 5 d during ambient storage, respectively. However, bagged fruits had better postharvest performance compared with non-bagged fruits by exhibiting slower weight loss, higher fruit firmness, more total soluble solids, vitamin C and total phenolic content and higher activities of catalase and superoxide dismutase during cold storage and ambient shelf storage. On the other hand, 20 d cold-stored fruits, both bagged and non-bagged, were decayed when kept under ambient conditions. It is proposed that mango fruit bagging could be a potential cultural practice to preserve postharvest quality up to 10 d of cold storage, followed by 5 d under ambient conditions.