ABSTRACT
Understanding post-harvest deterioration in mangoes Apiradee Uthairatanakij and Pongphen Jitareerat, King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi, Thailand; and Robert E. Paull, University of Hawaii at Manoa, USA
1 Introduction
2 Ripening-related changes
3 Pre-harvest handling, environment and deterioration
4 In-harvest handling, environment and deterioration
5 Post-harvest handling, environment and deterioration
6 Mango modification
7 Future trends and conclusion
8 References
Mango (Mangifera indica L.) belongs to the family Anacardiaceae, also known as the cashew family, and has about 75 genera and 700 species. The family normally has fleshy fruit, with non-fleshy fruit being rare; if dry, the fruit is indehiscent. The fruit type is a drupe where the outer fleshy part surrounds a shell of hardened endocarp with one stone, though in the cashew the non-fleshy indehiscent fruit sits on a swollen receptacle. Other related fleshy fruits sold fresh are in the genus Spondias, the yellow mombin or hog plum (S. mombin L.); the ambarella or June plum (S. cytherea or S. dulcis Forst.); and the purple mombin (S. purpurea L.). Other species belonging to this family with edible fleshy fruit are the marula (Sclerocarya birrea spp. caffra Sand) of Africa and the Marian plum or Ma-praang (Bouea macrophylla Griff) of South east Asia. The genus Mangifera consists of about 69 species but not all bear edible fruit.
