Postharvest Mechanical Drenching and Disease Control of Mango

Abstract

Mechanical drenching comprises washing and disease control (DC) machines. The washing machine consists of rolling conveyor and washing room equipped with sprayers and brushes. The DC machines in made up of 360-litre steel bin having rotating plates to submerge mangoes in 500 ppm BENLATE solution, at temperature 55ºC for 5 minutes. Washing machine testing aiming to evaluate cleanness due to general dirt and mango gum showed that the machine could wash out dirt as well as hands did regardless of variation in washing rate, time (T) and amount (RUB) of gum distributing on mango (99% level of confidence). The washing machine at the feeding rate 332 kg./hr. could clean up gum as well as hands could irrespective of change in RUB and T (99% level of confidence). Testing of DC machine revealed that machine performance under the aforementioned condition could well protect mangoes (5.6% was attacked by disease) while 18.8% of control mangoes was damaged by disease. Mechanical damage upon mangoes due to the washing machine only and the combination of washing and DC machine were averagely 0.6% and 1.5% respectively. Controlled mangoes were inherently damaged, on the average of 0.4%.