Origin Fruit Group Mango Packing Protocol

PREREQUISITE SPECIFICATIONS

Quality assessment When evaluating the quality of mangoes, several key factors must be taken into account: SAMPLING The number of mangoes needed for an effective quali ty assessment depends on: ACCURACY LEVEL : Do you need a general overview of fruit quality, or a detailed analysis of specific defects with high statistical accuracy? ASSESSMENT TIMING : If mangoes are evaluated shortly after storage, defects that develop over time will be less noticeable, requiring more samples to show differences. Conversely, longer storage periods may result in more visible defects, needing fewer samples. RESOURCE AVAILABILITY : Larger sample sizes require more labour, time, lab space, and funds. Typi cally, one tray of mangoes can provide a general qual ity estimate, while more detailed assessments should use at least three separate trays. RIPENING CONDITIONS Mangoes should be ripened under consistent condi tions to compare with other treatments assessed at different times or locations. Key factors affecting rip ening rate and quality include temperature, ethylene concentration and exposure times, and carbon diox ide levels. The ripening environment should have: • Precise temperature control FIELD DEFECTS Field defects are rated based on widely accepted commercial grade descriptors in Australia. The severi ty criteria for each grade can vary between defects and are typically determined by the affected surface area, the colour of the affected area, and the impact on the fruit’s integrity. Commercial grade standards are not included here, as they may change according to customer requirements and other factors. The defect levels for each grade should be communicated to the relevant members of the supply chain before and during the mango season, depending on customer and market needs. • Adequate air circulation and ventilation • Monitoring of air and fruit temperatures CLASSIFYING MANGO DEFECTS

RIPENESS AT EVALUATION Quality defects, such as rots, develop quickly as man goes ripen, so results will vary if assessed at different ripeness stages. It is crucial to document the softness stage at which assessments are made to enable com parisons across different points and projects. For soft-eating mangoes like Kensington Pride, fruit softness is the best ripeness indicator. Other indica tors, such as skin colour, can be influenced by produc tion and ripening practices and may be less reliable. For firm-eating mangoes like B74 and R2E2, changes in flesh firmness from harvest to ripe are harder to de scribe and may be less reliable for determining readi ness to eat. Assessments over several seasons of laboratory-rip ened mangoes and those sampled from commercial ripeners just before dispatch have shown that man goes typically have acceptable flavour 1–2 days after losing all green skin colour. Therefore, we suggest de scribing the ripeness stage for quality assessment in terms of both days after the loss of all green skin col our and softness.

HARVEST AND POST-HARVEST DEFECTS Two main groups of defects have different rating scales: SOLID DEFECTS : These defects cover distinct are as of the skin and are quite noticeable. Generally, only small areas of the fruit need to be affected before the fruit becomes unsaleable. Examples include rots and field blemishes. SCATTERED DEFECTS : These defects are spread out and sometimes scattered around the fruit. They are gen erally less noticeable, and larger areas of the fruit need to be affected before the fruit becomes unsaleable. Ex amples include lenticel spotting and dendritic spots.

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Origin Fruit Group | Mango Packing Guide