Elevating Harumanis Mango Postharvest Physico-Chemical Quality Using Preharvest Treatments Approach

Postharvest activities are mainly carried out to maintain fruit quality and prolong the shelf life of produce. However, the produce quality is limited to the quality during the harvesting. Preharvest treatment can be used as an alternative to improve fruit quality. Harumanis mango is one of the important seasonal fruits in Malaysia and only available within few months period per year. This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of different chemical foliar at preharvest stage on fruit physicochemical properties. Experiment was conducted using Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with 4 replicates and three treatments were used on 20 years old Harumanis tree in this preliminary study in Sintok, Kedah (1% calcium chloride(T2), 0.15%Chelated zinc(T3) and 0.02% salicylic acid (T4)) with tap water as control (T1). Mango trees were sprayed on week 10-11 after fruit set before fruit were harvested on week 14. Results shows there are significant finding for total soluble solid (TSS), vitamin C, total titratable acidity (TTA), and peel color. Control fruits have significantly higher values compared to other treatments but scored the lowest for vitamin C and TTA content with T4 yield highest vitamin C content. Thus, this treatment (T4) has higher sugar acid ratio (123.72%) than other treatments. In terms of peel colour, zinc treatment produces more greenish skin hue compared to other treatments. In conclusion, T4 yields the best results in term of fruit quality (vitamin C, TTA and sugar acid ratio). However, more research needs to be done on the combination of zinc (T3) and salicylic acid (T4) sprays.