Exploring cold quarantine to mango fruit against fruit fly using artificial ripening

Mango quarantine is based mainly on heat treatment, with a possible deterioration of fruit quality. We studied the effects of cold quarantine (19 days storage at 2 °C) on fruit quality of commercial mango cvs. Keitt and Shelly for three consecutive years. Chilling injury (CI) occurs in mango fruit stored at temperatures lower than 12 °C. By reanalysing our previous transcriptome, we found that under sub-optimal temperature storage (5 °C), the fruit increases its ethylene biosynthesis and osmolarity by activating sugar metabolism, thereby probably reducing its freezing point. Similarly, ripe fruit with higher sugar concentration should be more resistant to cold-storage stress. Here, mango fruit was artificially ripened with 150 ppm ethylene. The control group, stored at 2 °C, suffered from severe CI, whereas the combined treatment of artificial ripening, modified atmosphere (fruit were enclosed in perforated bags) and subsequent low-temperature conditioning resulted in a significant reduction in CI to satisfactory levels for consumer acceptance (taste, aroma and texture). The combined treatment reduced lipid peroxidation and maintained flavour, leading to a novel cold-quarantine treatment for mango fruit. Thus, by reversing the supply chain and storing ripe and ready-to-eat fruit, cold quarantine was enabled for mango, and possibly other chilling-susceptible fruits.