Mitigating postharvest quantitative and qualitative losses in mango fruits through the application of biocontrol agents: An in-vivo and in-vitro assessment.

Mango is a commercial fruit crop of India that suffers huge postharvest losses every year. The application of biocontrol agents (BCAs) bears a vast potential for managing the same, which is yet to be exploited to its fullest extent. Hence, studies were conducted for BCAs application of Debaryomyces hansenii, Bacillus subtilis and Pseudomonas fluorescens strains on mango fruit under in-vitro, in-vivo conditions to know the efficacy of these BCAs on the postharvest pathogen, shelf life and quality retention of mango fruit. The 'poisoned food technique' was attempted for in-vitro studies. For the in-vivo studies, fruit of the commercial cultivar 'Amrapali' were un-inoculated and pre-inoculated with major postharvest pathogens (anthracnose: Colletotrichum gloeosporioides and stem-end rot: Botryodiplodia theobromae) were treated with BCA, followed by ambient storage at (24 ± 4 °C, 75 ± 5 % RH). From the results, it has been observed that under in vitro studies, BCA Debaryomyces hansenii (Strain: KP006) and Bacillus subtilis (Strain: BJ0011) at the treatment level 108 CFU mL-1 while, the Pseudomonas fluorescens at 109 CFU mL-1 (Strain: BE0001) were significantly effective for pathogen inhibition. However, under the in vivo studies, the BCA Debaryomyces hansenii (Strain: KP006) at 108 CFU mL-1 treatment level was found to significantly reduce the pathogen's decay incidence while positively influencing the shelf life and biochemical (quality) attributes. This treatment increased the storage life of mango fruit by more than three days over control fruit. Therefore, BCA Debaryomyces hansenii (Strain: KP006) at 108 CFU mL-1 can be used to control the postharvest pathological loss of mango fruit without affecting its internal quality.

Recent advances in vacuum impregnation of fruits and vegetables processing: A concise review.

Vacuum impregnation (VI) is a novel, non-thermal treatment that aims to modify the composition of food material by partially removing water and air and impregnating it with physiologically active compounds without affecting the structural integrity of food matrix. Application of VI accelerates the mass transfer processes, which leads to few changes in food composition and improves dehydration. Large volumes in intracellular spaces of fruit and vegetable tissues make it suitable to introduce different agents like nutrients, cryoprotectants, browning inhibitors, enzymes, and chemicals; enhancing texture profile and inhibiting tissue softening, or compounds lowering water activity and pH. water activity Thus, the VI may help to achieve new product quality associated with physicochemical features and sensory attributes. This review highlights the evolution and mechanism of VI technique, major factors affecting VI of fruits and vegetables and their responses to processing, and industrial relevance. Vacuum impregnation consists ability to revolutionize various aspects of food processing and preservation. VI serves as a versatile tool that enhances the quality, shelf life, and nutritional content of processed fruits and vegetables. It offers unique advantages of altering product composition by introducing desired compounds while preserving structural integrity. VI improves mass transfer processes, reduces water content, enhances the absorption of nutrients, antioxidants, and preservatives. This technology finds application in producing fortified foods, extending shelf life, and creating innovative products with improved sensory attributes. VI's ability to efficiently impregnate substances into porous materials, combined with its energy-saving potential and compatibility with other processing methods, makes it a valuable tool in the food industry. As consumers demand healthier and long-lasting products, VI emerges as a promising solution for meeting market demands.

Hydrocolloid edible coatings extend shelf life, reduce postharvest decay, and maintain keeping quality of mango fruits (Mangifera indica L.) under ambient storage.

Mango fruit exhibit high postharvest losses due to physiological, biochemical, and pathological deterioration during storage. Edible coatings such as hydrocolloids (HC) bear promising potential for fruit quality preservation at ambient storage due to its triple action (physiological, biochemical and pathological) on fruit and thus widely researched in recent years. This study demonstrates the influence of health and eco-safe hydrocolloid edible coatings such as "Carboxymethyl cellulose" (CMC) (1%), "Guar gum" (1.5%), "Gum Arabica" (10%), and "Xanthan gum" (0.3%) as dip treatment to enhance the postharvest quality and storage life of mangoes at ambient storage (25 ± 4°C and 65 ± 5% RH). "Xanthan gum" (0.3%) treatment exhibited the highest efficacy in reducing the decay loss by more than threefold and physiological loss by twofold over control fruit. It lowered the physiological and fruit softening enzyme activities (PG, PME, and LOX), while maintaining the biochemicals. Moreover, it maintained both internal as well as external (consumer preference) quality of fruit and extended 6 days shelf life on the physiological loss standard basis (≤10%) than that of the control. The results recommend the application of "Xanthan gum" (0.3%) as an efficacious ecological, sustainable, and health-friendly surface edible coating for quality preservation and storage period extension of mango fruit under ambient storage. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS: The selected hydrocolloid edible coatings dip treatment showed promising potential in controlling the physiological, biochemical, and pathological deterioration of mango fruit stored under ambient condition. The selected treatments extended the shelf life without diminishing fruit quality. However, among the attempted HC treatments, the "Xanthan gum" (0.3%) (XG) coating displayed the excellent results. It added the storage life of mango fruit by 6 days over the control. XG treated fruit displayed the excellent results in terms of storage period extension, quality retention, consumer preference, and control over the fruit decay and softening enzymes activities. Postharvest preservation of mango fruit using HC is nonchemical, cost-effective approach which is GRAS (generally recognized as safe), health, and eco safe.

Guar gum and chitosan-based composite edible coating extends the shelf life and preserves the bioactive compounds in stored Kinnow fruits.

The present investigation aimed to elucidate the effects of chitosan (CH) and guar gum (GG) based composite edible coating on physicochemical quality and storability of Kinnow fruit under ambient conditions. Composite coating materials were prepared by using tamarind (TAM) seed starch and jackfruit (JACK) seed starch with CH and GG separately. The results indicated that GG + TAM coated fruits maintained significantly (P ≤ 0.01) lower physiological losses in weight (PLW) (3.12 %), decay incidence (0.83 %), and respiration rate (13.57 ml CO2 kg-1 h-1) compared to control. The reduced activity of pectin methylesterase (PME) (0.97 µmol min-1 g-1 FW) and lipoxygenase (LOX) (1.97 µmol min-1 g-1 FW) were noted in GG + TAM coated fruits. Also, the GG + TAM coated fruits retained higher fruit firmness (6.77 N), titratable acidity (TA) (0.94 %), ascorbic acid (AA) (27.83 mg 100 g-1), total phenols (213.05 mg GAE 100 g-1 FW), antioxidants activity (23.57 µmol TE g-1) along with higher sensory score over the control. Based on findings, it can be concluded that GG + TAM coating could be gainfully utilized for prolonging the shelf life of Kinnow fruits up to 25 days without losing desirable quality traits at ambient storage.

Effects of calcium lactate on postharvest quality of bitter gourd fruit during cold storage.

This study was aimed to assess the effects of calcium lactate (CL) on quality, shelf-life and storage physiology of bitter gourd. Fruits were dipped in the aqueous solution of CL (50, 75, and 100 mM) and stored at 10 °C and 85-95% relative humidity (RH). The changes in physical, biochemical and enzymological parameters were recorded at five days interval. The results showed that in CL@100 mM treated fruit, physiological loss in weight (PLW) and decay incidence were minimized. Conversely, their firmness, total phenolics, antioxidants and total chlorophyll retained at higher side. The CL @ 75 mM was able to retain higher ascorbic acid up to 20 days while CL@100 mM was effective in controlling pectin methylesterase (PME) activity and increasing the inhibitory activity of α-amylase and α-glucosidase. Therefore, our observations suggested that by applying CL@100 mM, 5 days extra (20 days) shelf-life of bitter gourd fruit can be achieved with notable retention of biochemical compounds over untreated fruit (15 days with poor retention of important nutrients).

Fruit bagging and bag color affects physico-chemical, nutraceutical quality and consumer acceptability of pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) arils.

Present study aimed to investigate the effect of preharvest bagging and bag colour on physico-chemical, nutraceutical quality and consumer acceptability of pomegranate arils. Fruits of 10-years-old Kandhari variety were covered with 15 × 20 cm three colored single layer cellulosic bags (35 µm thickness, 2700 cm3 24 h-1 GTR, WVTR 28.60 cm3 24 h-1) 60 days after flowering. Fruits were harvested 150 days after anthesis (average TSS 13° brix) and fruits were taken to various physical-biochemical parameters. Red colored bagging minimized fruit cracking (66%) and bacterial blight incidence (78%) over control. Ascorbic acid and total anthocyanin content was found maximum with red colour bagged (18.20 ± 0.87 mg 100 g-1 FW; 73.03 ± 3.97 mg 100 g-1 FW) fruits, while total soluble solids, total sugars and total antioxidant capacity were maximum in control fruits. Total phenols were found maximum in fruits which were bagged with blue colour bags (32.12 ± 1.53 mg GAE 100 g-1 FW). Respiration rate was recorded maximum in the red colored bags (17.93 ± 0.22 mL kg-1 h-1) followed by white, blue and control fruits. Overall acceptability was recorded maximum in the fruits which were covered with red colour bags (8.67) whereas sweetness was reported maximum in control fruits (8.30). For harnessing the benefit of bagging in pomegranate, fruit should be bagged 60 days after flowering with red color cellulosic bags. Red color cellulosic bags are much effective in producing quality fruits except compromising on few quality traits like aril Ca and total phenols content.

Tree age affects physicochemical, functional quality and storability of Amrapali mango (Mangifera indica L.) fruits.

BACKGROUND: The effect of tree age on physicochemical quality attributes and storage behaviour of Amrapali mango fruit was evaluated. Physiologically mature fruits were harvested from 6-, 18- and 30-year-old trees and kept for ripening under ambient conditions (temperature 35 ± 3 °C, relative humidity 60 ± 5%). Observations were recorded at 3-day intervals. RESULTS: Highest total soluble solids and total sugars were found in the fruit sourced from 18-year-old trees. At the end of storage, least titratable acidity (0.17%) and higher carotenoids (10.86 mg 100 g-1 ) were found in 30-year-old tree fruits during the last day of storage. Highest total phenols (TP) (251.33 µg gallic acid g-1 ), antioxidant capacity (AC) (5.63 µmol Trolox g-1 ) and ascorbic acid (AA) (31.13 mg 100 g-1 ) were reported in fruits from younger trees of 6 years old. Maximum respiratory and ethylene evolution peak was observed in fruits obtained from oldest trees, whereas least activities of pectin methyl esterase (0.31 µmol min-1 g-1 fresh weight) and polygalacturonase (53.67 µg galacturonic acid g-1 h-1 ) were observed in 6-year-old tree fruits at the end of the 9-day storage period. CONCLUSION: Higher total soluble solids and total sugars were found in fruit harvested from middle-age-group (18-year-old) trees during the entire storage period of 9 days. Most of the functional parameters, such as TP, AC and AA, were observed to be higher in fruits from younger (6-year-old) trees. The obtained results revealed that produce from middle-age-group (18-year-old) Amrapali mango orchards suit consumers' and processors' requirements. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry.

Influence of different desapping agents on the incidence of sapburn, ripening behaviour and quality of mango.

Sapburn injury in mango is regarded as the most serious problem as it reduces the aesthetic appeal and downgrade the fruit quality with considerable economic losses. For the control of sapburn injury, physiologically mature mango fruits of cv. Chausa were harvested along with 5-8 cm stalk attached. Immediately after harvesting, fruits were de-stemmed and treated with different desapping agent solutions [calcium hydroxide (1 %), sodium hydroxide (1 %), alum (0.5 and 1 %)] by dipping them for 5 min. In control fruits, the pedicels were removed and sap was allowed to spread freely over the fruit surface. After treatment application, fruits were air-dried and stored at ambient condition (30 ± 2 °C) for 12 days. Among the treatments, fruits desapped with sodium hydroxide (1 %) showed significantly lower (7.6-fold) sapburn injury followed by alum (0.5 %) treatment than control. Respiration and ethylene evolution rates were also significantly suppressed and delayed with sodium hydroxide (1 %) treatment. Fruit firmness and functional properties like, antioxidant capacity, total carotenoids and total phenolics content were also found higher in sodium hydroxide (1 %) treated fruits. Pectin methyl esterase and polygalacturonase enzyme activity were recorded higher in fruits of control and calcium hydroxide treatment however; it was suppressed by sodium hydroxide and alum treatments. Fruit quality parameters like color, total soluble solids, titratable acidity and total sugars content were found higher in calcium hydroxide and sodium hydroxide treated fruits than control and alum treated fruits.

Influence of putrescine and carnauba wax on functional and sensory quality of pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) fruits during storage.

Functional properties (anthocyanins, antioxidant, ascorbic acid and tannin) and sensory score were determined in pomegranate fruits at two storage temperatures (3 and 5 °C) after treatment with 2 mM putrescine and 1 : 10 carnauba wax (carnauba wax : water). The treatments (putrescine and carnauba wax) were given by immersion method followed by storage up to 60 days. Both treatments retained significantly higher anthocyanins, antioxidant, ascorbic acid, tannin and sensory qualities as compared with control fruits under both the storage conditions. Combined application of putrescine + carnauba wax showed better response in retaining functional properties than putrescine treated or nontreated fruits. The impacts of putrescine and carnauba wax treatments were found more pronounced after 30 days at 3-5 °C storage temperature in retaining functional and sensory qualities. After 60 days of storage, putrescine + carnauba wax retained about 25% higher antioxidant activity both at 3 and 5 °C storage temperatures.