Effect of pre-harvest application of salicylic acid on the postharvest fruit quality of the Amrapali mango (Mangifera indica)

The shelf-life of mango (Mangifera indica L.) fruits is only 5 to 6 days under ambient conditions, which can be increased efficiently, if the rates of biological activities and/or changes are reduced by pre and/or post-harvest treatments. Hence, three different concentrations (75, 150 and 200 ppm) of salicylic acid (SA) were applied as pre-harvest treatments to Amrapali mango fruits, one week prior to their commercial harvest. Later the fruits were harvested and stored at ambient conditions (30±5 °C and 50±5 % RH). Among various concentrations of SA, the SA (200 ppm) was found to be most effective in delaying the ripening cum senescence processes through suppression of ethylene production rate (0.20 µl C2H4/kg/h) and helped in maintaining the post-harvest quality through better retention of soluble solid concentrates (SSC) (27.72 °B), titratable acidity (0.53 %), ascorbic acid (32.52 mg/100g) and total antioxidant content (11.85 µmol Trolox/g Fresh Weight ) etc. The SA treatment was also found to effectively influence the pectin methylesterase activity (0.167 µmol acid/min) as well as the lipid peroxidation (2.26 nmol/g Fresh weight) during storage in order to extend the fruit shelf-life by 3 days compared to the control fruits.