Ripening behaviour of 'Kesar' mangoes in relation to specific gravity

The studies were undertaken to determine the optimum stage of maturity on the basis of specific gravity. The whole Kesar mango tree was harvested when a Few tree ripened fruits known as "sakh" were noticed and categorised into 3 specific gravity (sp.gr) groups i.e. sp.gr. < 1.00, 1-1.02 and > 1.02. At harvest and on storage and ripening the chemical constituents such as TSS and sugars were positively correlated, while acidity and ascorbic acid were negatively correlated to the sp.gr. of fruits. The fruits having < 1 sp.gr. could not ripe normally till the end of storage and those having sp.gr. > 1.02 showed impaired ripening with slightly earlier over ripening. The fruits belonged to sp.gr. of 1 - 1.02 found to be at the optimum stage of maturity which showed better ripening qualities with suitability for transport and storage. The Bavistin hot dip (1000 ppm) for 10 min. were found effective in reducing the losses due to post harvest diseases with improved shelf life. By adopting the above criterion 84 percent fruits were matured from whole harvested tree bit sakh stage while only 27 percent matured fruits were recorded from harvested produce of co-operative society. The physiological and biochemical changes with organoleptic tests were studied at a perticular interval during storage and discussed in detail.