Postharvest treatments to reduce chilling injury symptoms in stored ...

Before marketing, they are either allowed to ripen naturally, or with ethylene gas.
After picking, the fruits are packed and graded according to their size, color and free of
defect or injury. To prevent fruits from bruising they are packed in single or double-
layered cartons, which contain protective material.
2.2 Storage of Fruit
The basic concept of storage is to extend the shelf life of products by storing them
in appropriate conditions to maintain their availability to consumers and processing
industries in their usable form. They can either be stored naturally in the field, or in built
storages (Raghavan and Gariépy, 1985 and Pantastico et al., 1975). In natural storage the
product is left in the field and harvesting is delayed, while in artificial storage favorable
conditions are provided which help to maintain product freshness and nutritional quality
for a longer period. During storage, the mango physiology and its ripening involves many
physiochemical activities, such as cumulative physiological loss in weight (CPLW) and
volume, pulp and skin color change, acidity, loss in firmness, increase in total solids and
sugar concentration.
According to FAO Year Book, 2000 the world import of fresh mango are
projected to increase by 53 % to 459,000 tonnes by year 2005 and it can further be
increased by improving storage conditions and controlling diseases and insect
contamination. There are various techniques, which have been developed to improve the
storage life and maintain the quality of fresh horticultural commodities.
2.2.1. Storage at low temperature :
International trade of fresh mango has been limited because of its highly
perishable nature and susceptibility to postharvest disease and injury and hence mangoes
are still considered as luxurious and expensive item in the markets of many industrialized
countries. While storing the commodities there are many factors which influence product
quality; temperature is one of them. For successful storage it is necessary to efficiently
control the temperature throughout the storage period.
The principle behind cold storage is to delay the period of ripening of a product by
slowing down its physiological activities. While storing fruits the first priority is to
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