IMPACT OF POSTHARVEST HOT WATER TREATMENT ON TWO COMMERCIAL MANGO CULTIVARS OF PAKISTAN UNDER SIMULATED AIR FREIGHT CONDITIONS FOR CHINA.

Mango is highly valued crop traded worldwide. Fruit fly is serious issue in mango producing countries, and being a quarantine pest, needs specific disinfestation treatments to fruit before export. This study was aimed to assess the effect of hot water quarantine treatment on two commercial mango cultivars for mango export to China. Mature, physically de-sapped mangoes of both cultivars (Sammar Bahisht Chaunsa and Sufaid Chaunsa) were subjected to hot water treatment (HWT; 48°C for 60 min) as obligatory quarantine protocol for export to China and held at simulated air freight conditions (24 ± 2 °C, 80% RH) for six and eight days till ripening, respectively. At eating soft ripe stage, HWT-treated fruits appeared to maintain visual quality, skin colour, and flesh colour, with substantially reduced disease incidence (stem end rot, side and body rot), skin defects and flesh defects, as compared to control. It was noted that HWT-treated fruits had higher marketability index, taste, flavor, slightly increased soluble solid contents, sugar acid ratio and ascorbic acid in both cultivars, respectively. Fruit weight loss, skin shriveling, firmness, flesh texture, aroma, titratable acidity and antioxidant activities were not significantly affected by HWT. However, HWT-treated fruits exhibited higher total phenolics and carotenoid contents as compared to untreated control fruits. Conclusively, hot water quarantine treatment maintained better fruit physical, biochemical quality and marketability index compared to control, and thus can be used effectively at commercial scale for export of both cultivars to China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]