ripening and shortens potential shelf life.
On most farms,
the fruit may wait from 30 minutes to 6 hours before they
are transported to the packinghouse.
Mangos can either be offloaded to the packinghouse in
field crates or from trucks with large cargo holds. Upon
arrival at the packinghouse, mangos are transferred into a
water flume system, where they are sprayed and brushed
to remove soil, latex and other organic materials. Next, the
fruit is pre-sized and placed back into crates. Then, in order
to control fruit flies, mangos are immersed in a hot water
dump tank for a time period that can range from 65 to 110
minutes, depending on fruit variety, weight, and size. The
hot water tank is filled with potable water at 115ºF. Some
packinghouses will then conduct a post-water treatment
Mangos marketed in the United States are cooling, known as hydrocooling, after the hot water
HARVESTING
usually picked at the mature green stage treatment to rapidly decrease the flesh temperature and
to withstand postharvest handling reduce injury to the fruit. Hydrocooler water temperatures
practices. Mangos are picked by hand or
by using a long picking pole which has a
canvas or nylon bag attached near a cutting blade to catch
the fruit. Ladders and hydraulic lifts are also used to help
pickers reach fruit high in the tree canopy. Mango fruits are
usually picked before they are fully ripe with the stem intact
and after they develop red, orange, or yellow color. The
long stem assures that the internal latex, or juice, does not
leak. The fruit are stored stem end down on racks to further
prevent latex from dripping on other fruit. The fruit bruises
easily and must be handled carefully to avoid damage.
Industry harvesting guidelines
PACKING
recommend that mangos be protected
from exposure to direct sunlight while
they wait transport to the packinghouse.
Direct sunlight results in sunburn and
higher flesh temperatures, which in turn accelerates are usually maintained between 70º to 72ºF and the mangos
are exposed to the cool water for about 30 minutes. Industry
guidelines provide time and temperature recommendations
for hydrocooler use with mangos to prevent water uptake
into the harvested fruit.
The fruit is transferred back to a packing line and graded by
weight and size in accordance with USDA standards and/or
buyer requirements. Grading allows for removal of mangos
that are misshaped, bruised, cut, or have signs of decay. Some
fruit may undergo a coating of wax to improve natural fruit
gloss and reduce water loss during holding and transport.
Mangos are packed into ventilated, single-layer cartons with
or without lids. The openings in the cartons are important
to ensure uniform temperature and humidity during storage
and shipping.
MANGOS 4
