Effect of cultivar, harvesting stage and storage period on the quality of mango during natural ripening

Physico-chemical characteristics, viz., total soluble solids (TSS), pH, dry matter (DM) and overall acceptability scores (OA) of nine major Indian mango cultivars at different harvesting stages were studied during natural ripening. Mangoes were kept in a single layer at ambient room conditions (26-38 degrees C, RH 60-70%) for ten days and were taken randomly at an interval of two days for quality assessment. Parameters like TSS and pulp pH showed significant increase while, DM declined significantly with storage period. The early harvested mangoes did not ripen well with OA score of less than 6 except Alphanso from Maharashtra, whereas; mangoes harvested at mid and late stages ripened well and resulted into higher sensory scores. Statistically significant scores were observed in late harvested mangoes.. There was significant variation in OA scores of early, mid and late harvested mangoes.