ISHS Acta Horticulturae 291: III International Mango Symposium
DESCRIPTION OF THE DISORDER 'STEM-END CAVITY', POSSIBLE CAUSES AND SUGGESTIONS FOR REDUCING INCIDENCE IN PACKING SHEDS |
| Authors: | A.J. Mead, E.C. Winston |
| Abstract:
The physiological disorder known in Australia as 'stem-end cavity' (SEC) has to date not been adequately described or recognised internationally as a separate disorder and as such is easily confused with terms such as sunburn, stem end rot, jelly seed and soft-nose. The first signs of the disorder are a sunken grey/brown area opposite the suture near the stem attachment. Affected fruit suffer premature fruit ripening followed by extensive wind drop. External symptoms are not always evident. Both mature and immature fruit i.e. 14 to 16% dry matter have been found susceptible, causing packing and marketing problems. Vascular fibres that connect the mango stem to the flesh and top of the seed snap or tear thereby forming a cavity within the flesh under the stem. This results in a breaking of sap pressure in the fruit and premature ripening of the flesh around the tear and seed. Conditions favourable to the disorder include cultivar, high leaf nitrogen, low calcium leaf levels, wet windy conditions and harvesting of tree ripe fruit. The best methods to reduce incidence of the disorder include early harvest and a discarding of all fruit that fail to bleed or exude sap in the desapping operation. A review of literature from florida and Canary Islands indicates that what researchers refer to as less severe levels of soft-nose are those of SEC. While more severe symptoms appear quite similar to jelly seed. This lends credence to the argument that stem end cavity and jelly seed (soft-nose) are different degrees of expression of the same disorder. | |
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