Coating in Mango cv. Kesar to Maintain Physical Quality and Delay Ripening

To evaluate the effect of chitosan, Aloe vera gel, Acacia gum and Tapioca starch coating on physical qualities and ripening of fruits of mango cv. Kesar, an experiment was conducted at ASPEE College of Horticulture and Forestry, Navsari Agricultural University, Navsari (Gujarat) involving nine treatments of coating viz. Chitosan 1 & 2%, Aloe vera gel 50 & 75%, Tapioca starch 5 & 10%, Acacia gum 10 and 15% along with control. Results indicated that fruits coated with 15% Acacia gum had significantly minimum physiological loss in weight (PLW), maximum firmness at ripening and also lowest ripening per cent up to 18^th day after harvesting while no other treatment including control had ripened fruits left. Surprisingly, chitosan coating was found ineffective in lowering PLW, maintaining firmness of fruits and delay ripening.