FUNGAL SPOILAGE OF MANGO FRUIT (MANGIFERA INDICA) AND ITS CONTROL USING EXTRACT OF NEEM LEAF (AZADIRACHTA INDICA) AND BANANA PULP (MUSA BALBISIANA)

Mango (Mangifera indica) popularly known as “The king of the fruits” is one of the most popular fruit grown and consumed extensively throughout the tropical and sub-tropical region of the world. With a total production of 23.87 million mango ranks third among the tropical fruits grown throughout the world. Owing to its unique fragrance, delicious taste and high nutritive value, Mango has a very high global demands. Mango contains significant amount of Carbohydrates, provitamin A, vitamin C and soluble sugar. Being a climacteric fruit, it is generally harvested at mature green stage and ripens during post-harvest handling operations like transportation, storage, etc. Mango is a high moisture and high nutrient reserve containing commodity and as a result it is highly perishable in nature and susceptible to several post-harvest diseases. This study was carried out to minimize the post harvest losses and extend shelf-life of mango fruit by maintaining the physiochemical properties. Freshly harvested mango was treated with different concentration of both neem leaf and banana pulp ethanolic extracts. Untreated mango was considered as control. Within five days untreated mango started showing sign of decay which suggested the presence of fungal pathogens, Aspergillus niger, Mucor ramosissimus and Rhizoctonia solani was confirmed as the causal organisms after isolation of the diseased mango. The treated fruits showed significant differences in shelf-life in case of disease severity and comparison to control fruits. The effectiveness of the treatment was meaningful which could be recommended for maintenance of post-harvest quality of mango stored in ambient conditions.