ETHEPHON PREHARVEST SPRAY TO IMPROVE QUALITY OF ‘TOMMY ATKINS’ MANGOES FOR INDUSTRIAL PROCESSING

Abstract

Quality improvement for the food industry in mango ‘Tommy Atkins’ via preharvest application of Ethephon at 0, 200, 400 and 600 μL L^-1 was evaluated. The treatments were applied over the fruit while still on the tree, using a power sprayer, and harvested 6 d after treated. Fruits were stored under simulated marketing conditions (20 ± 2 °C), and evaluated chemically and physically for 8 d. Total soluble solids (TSS) showed a significant difference (P ≤ 0.0001) from 7.2 °Brix for control samples to 7.8, 9.8 and 10.4 °Brix for the 200, 400 and 600 μL L^-1 of Ethephon, respectively. The titratable acidity (TA) and TSS/acid ratio (RAS) were significantly different (P ≤ 0.0001) among treatments; when Ethephon was applied at 600 μL L^-1;TA data was 0.5 % and 38.8, respectively, while for the other treatments TA readings ranked from 0.8 to 0.9 %, and RAS oscillated from 10.4 to 20.7. The fruit pulp color (H*) was different (P ≤ 0.0001) between Ethephon treated fruits and control; the lowest value was 75.3 H* for Ethephon 600 μL L^-1 which corresponds to an orange pulp, while the higher value (81.4 H*) observed in control samples is related to a yellow pulp. Firmness, expressed in newtons (N) was different among treatments (P ≤ 0.0001); results for control, Ethephon 200, 400 and 600 μL L^-1, were: 189.9, 156.9, 126.0 and 62.5 N, respectively. Ethephon induced the following changes during mangoes ripening: an increased TSS, a reduced TA, an increased RAS, a more intense orange color in the fruit pulp, and a reduced firmness, all these traits indicating an improvement of fruit mangoes quality and availability for processing industries.