Combined application of hot water and salicylic acid treatment preserves postharvest quality of mangoes.

Mango fruits undergo various biochemical changes and ripen rapidly after harvest. This study evaluated the effects of salicylic acid (SA) and hot water treatment (HWT) on the maintenance of postharvest quality of mango cv. Dashehari under ambient storage conditions. Physiologically mature fruits were subjected to different treatments, including SA 1 mM, SA 2 mM, HWT, HWT + SA 1 mM, HWT + SA 2 mM, and distilled water (control). Compared with untreated fruits, the combined treatments HWT + SA 1 mM and HWT + SA 2 mM significantly reduced weight loss, decay incidence, electrolyte leakage, reactive oxygen species accumulation, and activities of fruit softening enzymes, while better maintaining fruit firmness, soluble solids content, titratable acidity, and ascorbic acid during storage. The responses of these two combined treatments were statistically comparable for most quality attributes; however, fruits treated with HWT + SA 1 mM exhibited significantly lower malondialdehyde content after storage. These findings suggest that the integration of SA with HWT is an effective strategy for delaying ripening and preserving the postharvest biochemical quality of mango fruits under ambient conditions.