Fruit quality parameters and volatile compounds from 'Palmer' mangoes with internal breakdown

Area of Science:

• Agricultural Science
• Food Science
• Plant Physiology

Background:

• Internal breakdown (IB) is a physiological disorder causing premature, uneven mango ripening, leading to consumer dissatisfaction and postharvest loss.
• Detecting IB before consumption is challenging as symptoms are only visible when the fruit is cut.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the potential of physicochemical and volatile compound analysis for predicting internal breakdown (IB) in mangoes.
• To identify reliable analytical methods for early IB detection in mangoes.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of physicochemical properties (color, firmness) and volatile compounds in mango pulp.
• Application of Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Partial Least Squares Discriminant Analysis (PLS-DA) for data interpretation.

Main Results:

• Color, firmness, and volatile compounds significantly correlate with physiological changes associated with IB.
• Specific volatile compounds including methacrylic acid, ethyl ester, isopentyl ethanoate, limonene oxide, (E)-2-pentenal, tetradecane, and γ-elemene were identified as chemical markers for IB.
• PCA and PLS-DA successfully differentiated between healthy and IB-affected mangoes.

Conclusions:

• Combined analysis of physical and chemical characteristics, alongside multivariate statistical methods, provides an effective approach for identifying IB in mangoes.
• This methodology can aid in developing strategies to mitigate postharvest losses and improve consumer satisfaction by detecting IB early.