Evaluation of post-harvest losses and shelf life of fresh mango (Mangifera indica L.) in Eastern zone of Tanzania
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Date
2019-12
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Taylor & Francis Group
Abstract
Post-harvest loss negatively impacts food security, nutrition and
economic stability of farmers, exporters, traders and consumers.
Experiments were conducted to assess the effects of post-harvest
techniques on the shelf life of Apple and Palmer mango cultivars
under different storage conditions. Post-harvest losses of these
fruit along the supply chain were also evaluated. A two-factors
factorial experiment with six replications was used for each culti-
var. Post-harvest techniques included dipping of fruit in hexanal
solution (0.02% v/v), calcium chloride solution (2% w/v), smoke
treatments and untreated fruit. The fruit were then stored at two
different storage conditions namely: ambient temperature
(28 ± 2°C) and cold storage (18 ± 2 ° C). Shelf life data was analyzed
by using R-software. Mean separation was done by using Tukey
Honestly Significant Difference at (p ≤ 0.05). Results showed that
the major sites of post-harvest losses were at harvest, transport,
wholesale and retail stages of supply chain. Furthermore, post-
harvest treatments of fruit with hexanal and calcium chloride
significantly increased shelf life and reduced disease incidences
compared to untreated control and smoke-treated fruit. Cold
storage significantly increased shelf life of mango fruit compared
to ambient storage. Therefore, hexanal, calcium chloride and cold
storage are recommended to extend fruit shelf life, maintain fruit
firmness and to reduce disease incidences in mango fruit.
Description
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF FRUIT SCIENCE
2020, VOL. 20, NO. 4, PP. 855–870
Keywords
Post-harvest loss, Supply chain, Shelf life, Hexanal, Smoke, Calcium chloride