Research reveals how to extend the lifespan of mangoes

How to keep your juicy mangoes as fresh as possible for as long as possible?

Conventional wisdom says to keep unripe mangoes in a bowl or a paper bag on the counter - away from direct sunlight. They'll ripen naturally over two to four days.

Once they are ripe, tuck them into the fridge. This puts the ripening process on pause and gives you a few more days of good eating.

But new research from Edith Cowan University (ECU) in Australia has identified a way to extend the storage life of the popular tropical fruit.

The study, led by ECU School of Science Lecturer Dr Mekhala Vithana has found that dipping mangoes in ozonated water (aqueous ozonation) for 10 minutes before cold storage can extended the cold storage life of the fruit by up to two weeks, with significantly lowered occurrence of chilling injury.

“Increasing storage life of mangoes is incredibly important for both growers and traders, as it reduces food loss during storage and offers a longer market window,” Dr Vithana said.

With a global rise in the consumption of fruit and vegetables in recent years, there has been a subsequent increase in the production of mangoes.

A significant proportion of the fruit is, however, lost along the supply chain due to rapid ripening and excessive perishability.

“It is estimated that about 20% of the total Australian mango production is lost or wasted, and horticultural produce is responsible for about 50% of the total food waste in Australia,” Dr Vithana said.

“Therefore, it is important to explore eco-friendly and cost-effective technologies to minimise post-harvest losses of mangoes.”

Typically, mangoes are picked at the mature green stage and stored at 13 degrees Celsius for up to 14 days. This, however, is not cold enough for extended storage.

“Being a tropical fruit, unripe mangoes should not be stored below 12.5 degrees due to their high sensitivity to cold temperatures,” Dr Vithana said. “Prolonged storage of mango below this temperature causes a physiological disorder known as chilling injury, which damages the fruit skin and leads to decreased marketability and significant food waste.

“Therefore, susceptibility to chilling injury is the key limitation for exploiting cold storage technology to its maximum capacity for lengthening the storage life of mangoes.”

The study - carried out on Australia’s most widely produced variety of mango Kensington Pride - tested aqueous ozonation technology to improve chilling tolerance during cold storage.

By dipping the mango in the ozonated water for 10 minutes prior to cold storage at 5 degrees Celsius, researchers found that they could keep the mangoes for longer with much less chilling injury.

“Generally, Kensington Pride mango can only be stored for about two weeks without ripening at 13 degrees. However, aqueous ozonation extends the storage and shelf life of these mangoes up to 28 days, with 40% less chilling injury than untreated mangoes,” Dr Vithana said.

Ozonation can be controlled on-site, is cost-effective and considered safe for workers at a threshold level due to its faster break down into oxygen.

“Aqueous ozonation is bubbling ozone into water through an ozone generator,” she said. “Ozone is a compound widely used to sanitise fruits and vegetables on a commercial scale.

“The ozonation can be combined with the hydrocooling step after quarantine heat treatment in export mangoes or separately as a sanitisation step just after harvesting, depending upon the convenience of the grower, but this needs further optimisation under commercial settings.”

Dr Vithana said ECU researchers are hoping to do further research on other varieties of mangoes to test their responsiveness and to achieve further reduction in chilling injury for extended cold storage.

Image: Suparerg Suksai, scop.io

Why camel milk might soon be on your barista's radar

Cow milk is ubiquitous, but there is also much love for buffalo, goat, sheep milk. Baristas utilise almond milk, soy milk, oat milk, rice milk and other non-dairy options. 

There is very little acclaim, however, for camel milk. So far.

Research at Edith Cowan University in Wester Australia has shown camel milk to be a great alternative to traditional dairy, and that it could potentially create healthier digestion.

In addition to being hypoallergenic, camel milk could potentially protect the gut from harmful enzymes.

The research also found that camel milk contained more naturally occurring bioactive peptides when compared to its bovine counterpart.

“This is a good thing," PhD student Manujava Jayamanna Mohitigge from ECU reported.

"We now know that camel milk has the potential to be hypoallergenic compared to cow’s milk, but also that it has higher potential to yield bioactive peptides which can have antimicrobial properties and anti-hypertensive properties.

"These bioactive peptides can selectively inhibit certain pathogens, and by doing so, create a healthy gut environment and also has the potential to decrease the risk of developing cardiovascular disease in future.”

Mohittige did note that the potency of these bioactive peptides still needed further testing.

Previous research has show that when comparing beverages, cow’s milk typically contains between 85% to 87% water, with 3.8% to 5.5 % fat, 2.9% to 3.5% protein, and 4.6% lactose.

In contrast, camel milk consists of 87% to 90% water. Its protein content varies from 2.15% to 4.90%, fat ranges from 1.2% to 4.5%, and lactose levels are between 3.5% and 4.5%.

Currently, around 81% of global milk production is sourced from cows, with camel milk production sitting at fifth place, behind buffaloes, goats and sheep. Camel milk only accounts for around 0.4% of current dairy milk production globally.

Mohittige, however, noted that Australia’s semi-arid climate and the existing camel population - albeit almost entirely feral - made for a convincing argument to increase both production and consumption.

“Camel milk is gaining global attention, in part because of environmental conditions," he said. "Arid or semi-arid areas can be challenging for traditional cattle farming, but perfect for camels.”

While camel dairies are already exist in Australia, however, production volumes are still low.

See detail here: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0308814624041219?via%3Dihub