Arabic gum coatings significantly slowed down the respiration rate and delayed the climacteric peak and softening, prolonging the shelf life of ?Keitt? mango

Poscosecha, postcosecha, postharvest, mango, goma ar?biga, recubrimiento The present study was carried out during the two successive seasons 2011 and 2012 to investigate the effect of postharvest coating with gum arabic (GA) on shelf life of mango fruits (Mangifera indica L cv. Keitt). Mature fruits were harvested from an orchard located in the North-West Egyptian delta. The fruits were transferred to the post harvest laboratory, sorted and dipped in commercial GA, gum Arabic, solutions at:0% (water as control), 5%, 10%, 15% and 20% (w/v). The coated fruits were air dried, packed in commercial carton boxes (size 30x40 cm) in one layer and stored at room temperature (24 ? 2 ?C and 55% RH). Respiration rate, TSS, total acidity (TA), firmness, weight loss and decay % were evaluated until full ripening. The results showed that GA coating significantly slowed down the respiration rate and delayed the climacteric peak and softening, prolonging the shelf life of ?Keitt? mango. The active role of GA is mainly due to its effect as a semi-permeable barrier against O2, CO2 and moisture, thereby reducing both respiration and transpiration rates. ? Original title, full list of authors and sourceEFFECT OF POSTHARVEST GUM ARABIC COATING ON SHELF LIFE OF MANGO FRUIT STORED UNDER ROOM CONDITIONS Sultan, M.Z.1(*), Tolba, I.H.2, Abd-Rabboh, G.E.1 and Ghada, Sh.Shaker3 sultanmostafa2010@gmail.com 1 Hort. Dept, Faculty of Agric, Al-Azhar University-Cairo-Egypt 2 Botany Dept, Branch Plant Pathology, Faculty of Agric., Al-Azhar University- Cairo- Egypt 3 Viticulture Dept. Hort. Res. Instit., Agric. Res. Center, Giza, Egypt CA MA 2013, XI International Controlled & Modified Atmosphere Research Conference, Trani (Italy), 3-7 June 2013 ?