ISHS Acta Horticulturae 291: III International Mango Symposium
IMPACT AND PRESSURE RESISTANCE OF MANGOES |
| Author: | S.N. Ledger |
| Abstract:
The aim of the study was to (a) describe and quantify the mechanical failure of mangoes under impact loading and (b) to assess the pressure resistance of mangoes during extended storage under a range of static loads. Mangoes were dropped from a range of heights and the amount of damage and energy absorbed were measured. Green mature mangoes failed by internal cracking while ripening mangoes bruised near the seed. Both failure modes were present at the sprung stage which is when softening can first be detected by hand (firmness 20 newtons). The critical drop height at which damage occurred was 36 cm for green mature fruit and 10 to 13 cm for near ripe fruit. Above the critical height, damage was a function of drop height. For any given drop height, bruising increased with ripeness. The cracking coefficient for green fruit was 6.6 cm2/joule. The bruising coefficient ranged from 2.3 ml/joule for fruit at the easy detectable softening stage (firmness 9 to 12 newtons) to 6.7 ml/joule for near ripe fruit (firmness 4.5 to 6.0 newtons). The surface flattening of the fruit held at 13°C under static loading increased with the amount of loading and storage time. Fruit was near ripe (firmness 5.5 newtons) on removal from storage after 24 days. Excessive flattening occurred after 8 days for a load of 4.0 kg, 10 days for 2.0 kg, 12 days for 1.6 kg, 17 days for 1.2 kg and 19 days for 0.8 kg. Flattening was not excessive after 24 days in storage for a load of 0.4 kg. | |
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