Bagging of mango (Mangifera indica cv. 'Keitt') fruit influences fruit quality and mineral composition

Abstract

The effect of bagging of mango (Mangifera indica) fruit was evaluated in order to improve fruit quality of late maturing cultivars. In 1993/1994, fruit of the `Keitt' cultivar were bagged with white paper bags at approximately 100 days before harvest on two separate orchards in the same growing district. In 1994/1995, `Keitt' fruit from another growing district were bagged at 131, 105, 82, 56 and 31 days before harvest. Fruit were harvested when mature and the fruit quality assessed following ripening at 22°C. Anthracnose and stem end rot (SER), caused by Colletotrichum and Dothoriella spp., respectively, were reduced by bagging in both years. In 1994/1995, SER severity continued to decline with increasing bagging duration, but there was no further consistent reduction in anthracnose severity with bagging durations longer than 56 days. All bagging treatments increased the percentage of the skin area with yellow colour at the eating soft stage. The percentage of the skin with red colour, and its intensity, decreased with increasing duration of bagging. Fruit calcium concentrations were reduced by bagging for 56 days or less in the 1994/1995 trial, but not by longer bagging times (82–131 days). Percent dry matter (% DM) was higher, and days to ripen shorter, in bagged fruit from one orchard during 1993/1994. Fruit mass, flesh colour, total soluble solids, acidity and eating quality were generally not affected by bagging. These results indicate that bagging can improve fruit quality through reduction in disease, and this benefit outweighs the negative effects of bagging on skin colour in the `Keitt' cultivar.