Pre-harvest Fruit Bagging Enhanced Quality and Shelf-life of Mango (Mangifera indica L.) cv. Amrapali

A study was performed during 2016 from January to July for safe mango production by applying the minimum use of pesticides. The mango fruits were bagged at marble stage (45 days after fruit set) with various treatments viz: T0: No bagging (control), T1: Brown paper double-layered bag (BPB); T2: White paper single-layered bag (WPB); T3: Perforated polythene bag (PB) and T4: White cloth bag (WCB). In physical parameters, brown and white paper bag recorded the maximum fruit weight (169.10 g and 147.6 g), fruit length (8.57 and 8.33 cm), fruit diameter (5.63 and 5.87 cm) and pulp weight (124.47 g and 105.60 g) respectively, while minimum result was found in the other treatments and control. Meanwhile, in bagging fruits, chemical parameters of total soluble solids, ascorbic acid, percent of citric acid, reducing sugars and β- carotene were increased over control. Brown paper bag changed fruit color. The sensory qualities in fruits of brown and white paper bags were improved over control. Fruit retention was significantly improved by pre-harvest fruit bagging with a brown paper bag (95.90%), white paper bag (95.50%), and control (90.00%) over polythene bag (80.00%). Fruits with brown paper bags showed shelf life up to 18 days with good physical quality and the lowest weight loss against 15 days of control fruits. The sensory attributes were better in fruits of brown, white paper and white cloth bags over control. Bagging at marble stage also reduced the occurrence of spongy tissue and the incidence of mealy bugs. These results indicate that fruit bagging can improve the quality and the shelf life of mango cv. Amrapali through the reduction of disease and insect-pest attack.