Ripening & Quality Assessment

RIPE AND READY TO EAT MANGO PROGRAM

This program provides retailers with a marketing advantage to sell mangos by offering the U.S. consumer a quality fruit that is ripe and ready to eat. Extensive consumer research demonstrates that ripe fruit has a higher acceptance with consumers, leading to higher mango sales.

The program has enlisted a ripening expert to design, implement and evaluate a ripening program for mangos. The ripening expert travels to select importers, retailers, wholesalers, and fresh-cut processors to determine their ripening capabilities and assess all the technical factors that can affect the success of the program. The ripening expert also audits mango in-store displays and storage rooms to provide helpful insights and suggestions to improve ripening. Audits includes: display temperatures, mango quality (internal and external), size of the displays, items stored with mangos, hazards that could affect mango quality, backroom temperatures, rotation system, staff knowledge, and more.

Following these audits, the ripening expert works closely with Quality Control (QC) personnel to test mangos and create a pre-conditioning and ripening practical protocol that will deliver a ripe mango to consumers. The expert also assesses the impact of the program on mango sales and volume at the retail and importer level.

HOW TO USE THE MANGO MATURITY AND RIPENESS GUIDE

Evaluating mango quality at receiving is an issue for most receivers. The confusion over maturity, ripeness and quality continues to create challenges for the entire mango supply chain. The NMB is attempting to clear the confusion and provide understandable advice for quality assessment procedures.

MANGOS — THE SUPERFRUIT YOU LOVE

  • The charts are intended for use at the retail receiving point in the United States.
  • You should expect at least 90% of the mangos tested to fall in stage 2 or higher.
  • Experience and good judgment are still your best tools. Actual results may vary from these findings.
  • These charts are meant to be educational and to provide a guideline for understanding mango maturity and ripeness. They do not represent U.S. Federal Grade Standards and should not serve as the basis for a contract or for an inspection.

MANGO EXPECTATIONS AT RECEIVING

  • Mangos are harvested when mature, but not ripe.
  • A mature mango will ripen normally with increasing soluble solids content (degrees Brix) and decreasing firmness (lbs. force) to become ready to eat.
  • At receiving you can expect the mangos to be mature, but not necessarily ripe.
  • Maturity can be judged by a combination of factors, including internal color, firmness, degrees Brix and fruit shape.
  • Red skin is not an indicator of maturity, quality or ripeness and should not be used to evaluate mangos at receiving.
  • It is very typical to find mangos of differing maturity and ripeness in the same load and in the same box.

MEASURING MANGO MATURITY AND RIPENESS

  • Internal flesh color, which develops near the seed and will progress outward as shown in these photos, is generally the best indicator of maturity and ripeness. Firmness and degrees Brix ranges are provided as an additional reference.
  • To measure firmness with a fruit penetrometer, use a 5/16” (8 mm) tip and test the mango flesh with the skin removed.
  • To measure degrees Brix with a refractometer, collect the flesh from an entire mango cheek or a plug taken down to the seed and juice the entire flesh sample.
  • Full shoulders at the stem end may be an indicator that the mango was harvested mature and will ripen normally

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