The fruits constitute a commercially important and nutritionally indispensable food commodity since they play a vital role in human nutrition by supplying the necessary growth factors essential for maintaining normal health.  One of the limiting factors that influence their economic value is the relatively short ripening period and reduced post-harvest life.  The fruit ripening involves a wide spectrum of coordinated biochemical and physiological processes that eventually leads to development of soft edible fruit with desirable qualities such as carotenoids, anthocyanin, color, sweetness, texture, firmness, flavor and aroma.  The ripening is the phase of fruit development just before senescence, therefore the excessive tissues softening due to the high ethylene exposure leads to the spoilage upon the storage.  Ethylene, a fruit ripening hormone can trigger many events of cell metabolism including ripening particularly in climacteric fruits even in minute amounts.  As fruit mature, the rate of ACC and ethylene biosynthesis increases as well as the enzyme activities for ACC oxidase and ACC synthase enhance.  However, the application of ethylene inhibitors such as 1-MCP, AVG and the ethylene remover proved to reduce the ripening where some quality attributes of ripening were reduced due to suppressed expression of the ripening hormone.

Background: The temperature being the most important environmental factor that influences the deterioration of perishable commodities. It is often critical that fresh produce rapidly reach the optimal pulp temperature for short term storage if it is to maintain its highest visual quality, flavour, texture and nutritional content (Kader, 2013). Aims: The effects of storage temperature and hot water at various temperature and duration on chemical and textural characteristics of the Keitt mango fruit were evaluated for the 2015/16 growing season in Botswana. Materials and Methods: The treatments were fruits dipped in distilled water at room temperature (25±2ºC- control), fruits dipped in hot water at 50 and 55ºC for a duration of 3, 5 and 10 minutes, and storage temperatures at 4, 7, 10, 13, or 25±2ºC, plus 95% RH. Results: The results showed that as the storage temperature and water temperature decreased, the proline content and electrolyte leakage increased significantly (P ≤ 0.0001). The interactions of storage temperature and hot water temperature, and duration in which mango fruit was treated with hot water, significantly (P ≤ 0.01) maintained vitamin C content, firmness and reduced fruit weight loss during storage and seven days after storage when the fruit was kept at room temperature. Conclusion: Chemical and physical attributes of Keitt mango fruits were significantly improved by the interactions between storage temperature, hot water temperature and duration.

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Low temperature storage is the most effective method of extending postharvest life and maintain fruit quality because it delays physiological processes such as ethylene production and senescence. Unfortunately, fruit such as mangoes are sensitive to low temperature storage and may be detrimental due to chilling injury, which reduces fruit quality. Effects of storage temperature, hot water at various temperatures and durations on alleviation of mango chilling injury and quality were evaluated on Keitt mango for the growing season in Botswana. The treatments were fruits dipped in distilled water at room temperature (25±2ºC- control), dipped in hot water at 50 and 55ºC for duration of 3, 5 and 10 minutes and storage temperatures at 4, 7, 10, 13 and 25±2ºC, plus 95% RH. The results showed that as storage temperature at below 13ºC, chilling injury incidence and severity significantly (P ≤ 0.0001) increased. Atwater temperature from 25ºC to 50 and 55ºC and duration in which mango fruit was held in hot water, increased from 3 to 5 and 10 minutes, chilling injury incidence and severity significantly (P ≤ 0.0001) decreased.