Preservation potential of essential oils on the postharvest quality and shelf-life attributes of mango fruit

Recent years witnessed an increasing consumer interest for the consumption of fruits preserved with non-chemical, eco and health-friendly approaches. This led to continuous work on deriving plant based natural treatments such as essential oils (EOs) for managing postharvest fruit loss. However, selection of EO which bear preservation potential along with the quality retention (sensory and shelf-life attributes) is now a prime concern for the postharvest researchers. Present study uncovers the preservation ability of EOs such as thyme oil (0.1 % v/v), clove oil (0.06 % v/v), neem oil (2 % v/v) and citronella oil (0.01 % v/v) on keeping quality, fruit decay and shelf life of mangoes cv. ‘Amrapali’. The fruit were subjected to EOs coating dip treatment for 3 min, followed by storage at ambient condition. Observations on postharvest attributes (physical, physiological, biochemicals, decay and sensory) were recorded at 3 days interval up to storage period completion (12th day). The results showed that all EOs positively influenced the studied preservation characteristics. Interestingly, thyme oil (0.1 %) application exhibited the excellent level of overall fruit quality and preservation potential. This treatment exhibited highest overall fruit quality (7.71) and sensory score (6.47) while controlling the ‘quality deterioration attributes’ such as physiological loss (6.91 %), fruit respiration-ethylene activity and fruit softening enzymes activities to the least level. Moreover 3 days extension of storage period along with >90% decay control was achieved over control fruit. It was concluded that thyme oil (0.1 %) exhibited the best preservation potential on keeping mangoes fresh. The outcome of this study bears practical utility for fruit preservation industry, organic farming, and fruit traders.