Post-harvest tech to extend storage life of mangoes
A significant proportion (around 20%) of mangoes is lost or wasted along the supply chain due to rapid ripening and excessive perishability. Edith Cowan University (ECU) has now identified a solution to help minimise these post-harvest losses by extending the cold storage life of the tropical fruit.
The study, led by ECU School of Science Lecturer Dr Mekhala Vithana, found that dipping mangoes in ozonated water (aqueous ozonation) for 10 min before cold storage extended the cold storage life by up to two weeks, and it also lowered the occurrence of chilling injury to the fruit.
Increasing storage life of mangoes is an important issue that needs to be tackled in order to reduce wastage and improve the market window of the fruit. Typically, mangoes are picked at the mature green stage and stored at 13°C for up to 14 days; however, this is not cold enough for extended storage.
“Being a tropical fruit, unripe mangoes should not be stored below 12.5°C due to their high sensitivity to cold temperatures,” Vithana said. “Prolonged storage of mango below this temperature causes a physiological disorder known as chilling injury, which damages the fruit skin and leads to decreased marketability and significant food waste.
“Therefore, susceptibility to chilling injury is the key limitation for exploiting cold storage technology to its maximum capacity for lengthening the storage life of mangoes.”
Ripe for a solution
The study — carried out on Australia’s most widely produced variety of mango, Kensington Pride — tested aqueous ozonation technology to improve chilling tolerance during cold storage.
By dipping the mango in the ozonated water for 10 min prior to cold storage at 5°C, researchers found that they could keep the mangoes for longer with much less chilling injury.
“Generally, Kensington Pride mango can only be stored for about two weeks without ripening at 13°C. However, aqueous ozonation extends the storage and shelf life of these mangoes up to 28 days, with 40% less chilling injury than untreated mangoes,” Vithana said.
“The aqueous ozonation seems to be highly feasible technology for improving chilling tolerance and quality of Kensington Pride mango fruit.”
Vithana said ozonation can be controlled on site, is cost-effective and considered safe for workers at a threshold level due to its faster breakdown into oxygen.
“Aqueous ozonation is bubbling ozone into water through an ozone generator,” she said. “Ozone is a compound widely used to sanitise fruits and vegetables on a commercial scale.
“The ozonation can be combined with the hydrocooling step after quarantine heat treatment in export mangoes or separately as a sanitisation step just after harvesting, depending upon the convenience of the grower, but this needs further optimisation under commercial settings.”
Vithana said ECU researchers are hoping to do further research on other varieties of mangoes to test their responsiveness and to achieve further reduction in chilling injury for extended cold storage.
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