Discriminate Analysis of Fruit Quality of Calcium Carbide Induced Ripening in Mango (Mangifera indica L. Cv. Alphonso)

Abstract

The aim of the study was to determine the postharvest fruit quality of mango cv. Alphonso treated with the laboratory grade (LG) and commercial grade (CG) Calcium Carbide (CaC 2 ) at the reported highest acceptable dose, and elemental composition analysis (EDX) results to support the statements for traceability of hazardous trace elements in CaC 2, which can serve as a basis towards developing sensors for identifying CaC 2 treated mangoes through detection of trace elements. Physical, physiological, biochemical and EDX of mango cv. Alphonso harvested from farmers’ field of Santur village in Krishnagiri district of Tamil Nadu, India were used for the study. All studied physical characteristics except fruit firmness of CG CaC 2 treated fruits did not correlate to desirable fruit characteristics like total soluble solids (TSS), pH, titrable acidity, total sugars and ascorbic acid. Besides, these parameters were desirable only in control fruits, though a number of days taken to reach fruit consumption stage was relatively more compared to CaC 2 treatment. In vitro, free radical scavenging potential of DPPH was comparatively higher in control fruits than CaC 2 treated fruits of both grades. Lab grade (LG) CaC 2 treated fruits were non-significant in modifying physical, physiological and biochemical properties of mango cv. Alphonso except for TSS. However, at the end of the experimental period, CG CaC 2 treated fruits recorded higher TSS than LG CaC 2 treated fruits. Energy Dispersive X-Ray (EDX) results confirmed traceability of health hazardous chemical substances of arsenic (As) and phosphorous (P) in both LG and CG CaC 2 lumps. Calcium carbide when used as an artificial ripening agent was not in contact with the fruit surface, the presence of arsenic and phosphorus were not detected in the EDX spectrum, a novel finding of our study.