Effect of pre-harvest Calcium Chloride on Post Harvest Behavior of Mango Fruits (Mangifera Indica L. )cv. Alphonso

Abstract

Studies on ripening, shelf-life, physico-chemical parameters and organoleptic evaluation of mango fruits (Mangifera indica L.) Cv. Alphonso were carried out at the " A " block of mango orchard at UAS, GKVK Campus, Bangalore, Karnataka, India with the fallowing objectives: to evaluate the different concentrations of calcium chloride on ripening of certain varieties of mango; to study the effect of calcium chloride spray on shelf-life of different varieties of mango; to study the effect of calcium chloride spray on physico-chemical properties of mango and to study the effect of calcium chloride spray on organoleptic qualities of mango. The experiment was carried out in Completely Randomized Design wherein mango trees were sprayed with CaCl 2 in the following treatments: T1: Control (no spray), T2: 0.50% spray of calcium chloride at 30 days before harvest, T3: 1.00% spray of calcium chloride at 30 days before harvest, T4: 1.50% spray of calcium chloride at 30 days before harvest, T5: 0.50% spray of calcium chloride at 15 days before harvest, T6: 1.00% spray of calcium chloride at 15 days before harvest, T7: 1.50% spray of calcium chloride at 15 days before harvest. The results revealed that 1.50% CaCl 2 significantly increased the number of days taken for ripening of fruits, the shelf-life of fruits, physico-chemical parameters and organoleptic evaluation of mango fruits compared to control.