This summer, the National Mango Board hosted its second free Mango Temperature Management & Ripening Webinar for retailers and importers in an effort to expose more industry personnel to proper handling techniques for the tropical fruit. The webinar provided attendees with information on the importance of proper temperature management to enhance consumers’ mango-eating experience.

In conjunction with the University of California-Davis (department of plant science) and the University of Florida (IFAS Center for Food Distribution & Retailing), the NMB hosted this free webinar to share the initial findings of its Ripe & Ready to Eat mango program initiative with the industry. Preliminary findings from its RRTEMP suggest that mangos stored in cold temperatures prevent the tropical fruit from ripening in the appropriate time for consumers to purchase and enjoy.

The webinar also gave insight on consumer preferences to help determine the minimum quality standards consumers will accept.

During the webinar, ripening expert Dennis Kihlstadius of Produce Technical Services shared his preliminary findings and recommendations for stores and distribution centers. Kihlstadius’ recommendations include improving temperature management at all distribution levels during transportation and storage, as well as mango displays at store level. He says that mangos should not be refrigerated and should not be transported or stored below 54 degrees Fahrenheit.

Jeffrey Brecht, UF/IFAS Center for Food Distribution & Retailing, University of Florida, also spoke during the webinar to share his research regarding temperature control. Brecht recommends choosing appropriate temperatures based on whether one is trying to slow ripening and avoid chilling (55 degrees Fahrenheit), or to help promote ripening (68-72 degrees Fahrenheit).

Another key suggestion that came out of the webinar is that retailers should display mangos at room temperature to allow the sweet aroma of the mangos to develop.

In addition, Carlos Crisosto, who is with the Department of Plant Sciences at the University of California-Davis, discussed his work in helping the NMB create a complete descriptive analysis of Tommy Atkins, Kent, Ataulfo, Keitt, Haden and Francis mango cultivars from the top six producing countries. A minimum quality index will be developed to help determine the minimum quality standard consumers will accept, as well as what is necessary to engage them to purchase mangos and increase consumer satisfaction. Crisosto shared during the webinar that ripe mangos have higher consumer acceptance than mature mangos. He also indicated that ripe soluble solids concentration and dry matter are great predictors for consumer acceptance. Dry matter can predict consumer acceptance in both mature and ripe mangos.

During the webinar, NMB Retail Program Manager Wendy McManus reminded the audience of the extensive amount of resources that exist on the NMB website to help in the care, handling and promoting of mangos. The handling and merchandising tab includes the Mango Maturity and Ripeness Guide (color chart) for receiving, the Mango Backroom Poster for store-level training and the Mango Postharvest Best Management Practices Manual. Also available on the website is a newly designed back room piece titled “Treat me like a banana!” to help inform retail produce departments that like bananas, mangos should not be refrigerated in the back room or on display. It also states that mangos can suffer chill damage and loss of flavor if held below 54 degrees Fahrenheit. The new back room piece can be ordered using the point-of-sale order form at www.mango.org/industry/point-sale-materials.

The NMB’s Mango Temperature Management and Ripening Program Webinar for retailers and importers is available on the NMB website for viewing at www.mango.org/retail/best-practices.