Effect of nitrogen on the skin colour and other quality attributes of ripe 'Kensington Pride' mango (Mangifera indica L.) fruit

• Published in: The journal of horticultural science & biotechnology 2004, Vol.79 (2), p.204-210
• Main Authors: Nguyen, H, Hofman, P, Holmes, R, Bally, I, Stubbings, B, Mcconchie, R
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 1462-0316; 2380-4084
• DOI: 10.1080/14620316.2004.11511749

Near-ripe 'Kensington Pride' mango (Mangifera indica L.) fruit with green skin colour generally return lower wholesale and retail prices. Pre-harvest management, especially nitrogen (N) nutrition, appears to be a major causal factor. To obtain an understanding of the extent of the problem in the Burdekin district (dry tropics; the major production area in Australia), green mature 'Kensington Pride' mango fruit were harvested from ten orchards and ripened at 20 ± 0.5 ° C. Of these orchards, 70% produced fruit with more than 25% of the skin surface area green when ripe. The following year, the effect of N application on skin colour and other quality attributes was investigated on three orchards, one with a high green (HG) skin problem and two with a low green (LG) skin problem. N was applied at pre-flowering and at panicle emergence at the rate of 0, 75, 150, 300 g per tree (soil applied) or 50 g per tree as foliar N for the HG orchard, and 0, 150, 300, 450 g per tree (soil applied) or 50 g per tree (foliar) for the LG orchards. In all orchards the proportion of green colour on the ripe fruit was significantly (P