Postharvest quality in ‘Kent’ mango with normal and high fertilization

Abstract

Fertilization is important to obtain fruit-quality production. This study was conducted during the period from 2010 to 2014 in two ‘Kent’ mango orchards with different soil conditions in Nayarit, whose objective was to evaluate the effect of specific site fertilization on the production and quality of fruits to harvest and until maturity of consumption. Three levels of fertilization were evaluated: 1) normal dose (for a yield of 20 t ha^-1 ); and 2) high dose (normal dose + 50%) and 3) without fertilization (control). Five trees were selected per treatment, marking 20 panicles per tree and harvesting 60 fruits at physiological maturity. Production (kg tree^-1 ), fruit size, external appearance, shell and pulp color, firmness and total soluble solids were determined. After harvest the fruits were stored under market simulation (22 ± 2 °C; 70 ± 10% HR), sampling every third day until consumption maturity. It was found that the production of the high and normal dose was superior to the control without fertilization. There were differences by location, years and fertilization doses on the quality and shelf life of the fruits, in weight loss, peel and pulp color, firmness and total soluble solids during the ripening process for consumption. The normal dose had a better effect in lengthening shelf life, reflecting firmness and pulp color. The other variables did not show differences between high and normal doses, but were higher than control.