Storage life extension at 5°C of 'Nam Dok Mai See Thong' mango by perforated package

Abstract

The export of Thai mango fruit to EU market currently entails high cost of air freight. Reducing cost by prolonging storage life for 25 d is an interesting issue to allow sea freight. The objective of this research was to find a suitable package for mango during cold storage. Individual mango fruit was packed in 3 types of package as polyethylene terephthalate box, polyethylene bag and multilayer nylon bag with 2 levels of perforated holes (1.0 and 1.5 cm2/m2). All fruit were kept at 5°C for 21, 28 and 35 d and transferred to ripen at room temperature (25±3°C). Result showed that mango fruit packed in polyethylene terephthalate box with perforated holes 1.5 cm2/m2had the longest storage life of 28 d without any chilling injury symptom. Moreover, the fruit was able to ripe when it was transferred to room temperature for 7 d. Fruit packed in polyethylene bag and multilayer nylon bag package with both sizes of perforations showed chilling injury symptoms within 28 d of storage. © ISHS 2013.