S23 - Session P8 - Ripening cv. ‘Honey Gold™’ mango in-transit from farm to market

Authors: Khamla Mott *, Hung Duong, Daryl Joyce, Peter Hofman, Andrew Macnish, Bhesh Bhandari, Allan Lisle

To investigate the potential for in-transit ripening of cv. 'Honey Gold TM ' mango fruit, 10 supply chain cases were monitored over two consecutive mango seasons. The consignments comprised of 18 pallets, transported over ~3000 km in refrigerated road trailers from the production area (Katherine, Northern Territory, Australia) to the distribution centre (Wamuran, Queensland). During transport at container set temperatures of 16°C over 2 to 3 days, the mature green mango fruit were exposed to ethylene released from Ripestuff TM (ethylene α-cylcodextrin) powder formulation. Fruit pulp and air temperatures and trailer ethylene (C 2 H 4 ), carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) and oxygen (O 2 ) concentrations were monitored for most consignments. Air temperatures varied with consignment, and typically increased to ~20°C during transport. C 2 H 4 concentrations of > 170 µL L -1 were recorded in the first season. High CO 2 concentrations of > 20% were sometimes recorded during transit. In the second season and depending on quantity, quality and bag porosity for calcium hydroxide (Ca(OH) 2 ) 'lime scrubbing' moderated CO 2 concentrations to < 4%. Mango fruit characteristics, namely days to eating soft (DTS), skin colour, fruit firmness, skin blemishes, total soluble solids (TSS) and titratable acidity (TA)) were monitored until fruit reached the eating soft stage. For fruit ripened in-transit with Ripestuff TM , DTS was generally reduced and skin colour exhibited typical changes from green to yellow - orange. TSS and TA measured at eating soft were similar to fruit ripened under recommended conditions. No anthracnose or other rots on in-transit ripened fruit was evident at eating soft.