Maturity‐related chilling tolerance in mango fruit and the antioxidant capacity involved

Abstract

Abstract BACKGROUND: In order to evaluate how effect of mature stage on the chilling tolerance of mangoes ( Mangifera indica L. cv. ‘Zihua’) and the mechanism involved, the fruit were categorized into three stages of ripeness: Green (100% green fruit), Preyellow (10–20% yellow fruit) and Yellow (45–55% yellow fruit) after harvest and stored at 2 °C for 12 days and then incubated at 25 °C for 2 days for chilling injury (CI) development. RESULTS: CI index in Preyellow and Yellow fruit was significantly lower than that of the Green fruit, as a rapid increase in ion leakage was observed in the Green fruit. Activities of superoxide dismutase, catalase, ascorbate peroxidase and polyphenoloxidase of Preyellow and Yellow fruit were higher than those of the Green from day 6 to day 12 during cold storage. A lower content of malondialdehyde but higher levels of glutathione and ascorbic acid were maintained in Preyellow and Yellow fruit than that in Green fruit. CONCLUSION: These results suggested that stronger resistance of Preyellow and Yellow mangoes to CI compared to Green fruit was due to their higher antioxidant capacity involved in the tolerance to chilling temperature. Alleviating CI in mangoes during storage may be achieved by storing the fruit when skin colour is beginning to change to yellow from green. Copyright © 2008 Society of Chemical Industry