Abstract
The physiological stage of mango maturity at harvest affects fruit quality at the time it is commercialized. The objective assessment of the mango maturity stage at harvest remains a challenge because of the multiple interactions between the visual aspect, the physicochemical composition, and the morphology of the fruit. This study aims to quantify the optimal harvest date to guarantee the maturity and quality of mango cv. ‘Kent’. In this study, which took place in Korhogo in northern Côte d’Ivoire, the maturity stage and the quality of fruits were measured on 240 Kent mangoes harvested at four different harvest dates (90, 95, 100, and 105 days after flowering). A morphological, physical, and chemical characterization (length, width, mass, soluble sugar content, dry matter, skin appearance, and mass loss) was carried out at each date on 30 fruits at harvest and 30 fruits after ripening at room temperature. The number of days necessary for ripening was quantified. The results showed that the optimal harvest date is 100 days after flowering for Kent mangoes in Côte d’Ivoire. Mangoes harvested at this date developed better organoleptic characteristics (less wrinkled skin, lower mass losses, and a shorter ripening time). Assessment of the harvest date, guaranteeing better ripening of the fruit, is of utmost importance for organizing harvests in the mango sectors in West Africa, and especially in Côte d’Ivoire.
Highlights
Mango (Mangifera indica L.), the 5th most cultivated fruit in the world, is produced in large quantity in Côte d‟Ivoire, the leading African mango exporting country and the 3rd worldwide supplier of the European market (Kouamé et al, 2020)
In this study, which took place in Korhogo in northern Côte d‟Ivoire, the maturity stage and the quality of fruits were measured on 240 Kent mangoes harvested at four different harvest dates (90, 95, 100, and 105 days after flowering)
The results showed that the optimal harvest date is 100 days after flowering for Kent mangoes in Côte d‟Ivoire. Mangoes harvested at this date developed better organoleptic characteristics
Summary
Mango (Mangifera indica L.), the 5th most cultivated fruit in the world, is produced in large quantity in Côte d‟Ivoire, the leading African mango exporting country and the 3rd worldwide supplier of the European market (Kouamé et al, 2020). Since mangoes are produced during the hunger gap period, they are of critical importance for food safety in sub-Saharan countries (Parrot et al, 2018). Despite all of these advantages, the development of the mango trade faced technical obstacles linked to the perishable nature of the fruit and the difficulty of objectively assessing the physiological maturity stage at harvest, of utmost importance for a climacteric fruit like mango (Nordey et al, 2019). The level of physiological maturity in mango fruits at harvest influences their suitability for transport, conservation, ripening and, the final quality of the fruits proposed to consumers (Brecht, 2020; Farina et al, 2020; Bender et al, 2021). Fruits harvested at a late stage of maturity incur shorter conservation times and a greater sensitivity to disease (Farina et al, 2020)
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