Effect of hot water brushing, prochloraz treatment and waxing on the incidence of black spot decay caused by Alternaria alternata in mango fruits

A combined hot water spray and fruit brushing (hot water brushing-HWB) trea tment for 15-20 s was developed for reducing the incidence of postharvest d isease caused by Alternaria alternata and improving mango fruit keeping qua lity. The efficacy of the hot water treatment was tested over a range of te mperatures from 48 to 64 degrees C, in combination with prochloraz treatmen t and fruit waxing. Hot water brushing of fruits significantly reduced deca y (infected area) development by A. alternata. But after storage for 3 week s at 12 degrees C and another week at 20 degrees C, the reduction of diseas e incidence by HWB and prochloraz treatment (000 mu g ml(-1)) was more effe ctive than by HWB alone. HWB treatment for 15 s improved colour development and was more effective than the common, commercial 5 min dip treatment at 55 degrees C. The combination of fruit HWB and waxing yielded high quality fruits with less decay development. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All righ ts reserved.