Analysis of Sugar Content and Fruit Hardness of Mango Fruit during Different Stages of Ripening

Abstract

Mango (Mangifera indica L.) is a major tropical fruit crop in India, valued for its distinct flavour, aroma, and nutritional profile. Understanding post-harvest physiological changes across different commercial cultivars is essential for determining optimal harvest times and shelf-life strategies. This study evaluates fruit firmness, water-soluble total sugars, reducing sugars, and acid-soluble non-reducing sugars across three post-harvest ripening stages (unripe, mid-ripe, and ripe) in two major Indian mango cultivars exhibiting contrasting ripening patterns: Dashehari (ripening from the inner region outwards) and Banganpalli (ripening from the outer region inwards). Fruit firmness was evaluated using penetrometry, while sugar fractions were quantified using the Lane and Eynon method. Firmness declined steadily in both cultivars from stage 1 to stage 5 (15.2 ± 2.1 N to 0 N in Dashehari; 17.6 ± 0.08 N to 0.16 ± 0.04 N in Banganpalli). Total soluble sugars and reducing sugars increased substantially during ripening, with Dashehari displaying a fourfold increase in water-soluble sugar content at full maturity. Conversely, acid-soluble sugars decreased by up to tenfold from the unripe to the fully ripe stage in both cultivars. These findings highlight physiological differences in sugar transformation and softening rates between the cultivars, providing quantitative benchmarks for post-harvest handling.