Effect of pre-harvest application of salicylic acid on postharvest behaviour of 'Amrapali' mango fruits during storage

Mango is a highly perishable and deteriorates at a very fast rate during storage. In contrast to the common practice of postharvest application of growth regulators, we have studied the effect of pre-harvest application of the ethylene biosynthesis inhibitor, viz. salicylic acid (SA) at three different concentrations (75, 150 and 200 ppm) on 'Amrapali' mango fruits. The results indicate that pre- harvest application of salicylic acid, one week before the commercial harvest could effectively modulate the postharvest behaviour of the mango fruits during storage at ambient conditions (30 +/- 5 degrees C and 50 +/- 5% RH). Although the mango was responsive to all the treatments, SA (200 ppm) was found to be effective in delaying the ripening cum senescence processes through suppression of respiration rate (105.43 ml CO2 kg(-1)h(-1)) and ethylene production rates (0.20 mu l C2H4 kg(-1) h(-1)) and retention of high firmness (21.76 N), colour (26.31 Delta E), TSS (27.72 degrees B) and titratable acidity (0.53%) compared to untreated fruits.