Effect of nitrogen on the skin colour and other quality attributes of ripe 'Kensington Pride' mango fruit - summary and study results

Q: Why does green skin colour matter for Kensington Pride mango market value?

Green ripe fruit sell more slowly and often at a lower price on wholesale and retail markets, making green skin colour a major quality problem.

Q: How was nitrogen application tested in relation to green skin colour?

Fruit were compared across orchards with low or high green-skin problems, receiving soil N at pre-flowering and panicle emergence, or foliar N, then ripening was assessed at 20±0.5°C.

Q: What N treatments increased green colour and anthracnose severity?

Soil applications of 150 g N per tree or more increased the proportion of green colour on ripe fruit. In the high-green orchard, anthracnose severity was significantly higher with 300 g N per tree or foliar treatment versus no additional N.

Aug 27, 2026

Uploaded by Bill Black

Near-ripe Kensington Pride mangoes with green skin colour generally command lower wholesale and retail prices, indicating nitrogen (N) nutrition as a major pre-harvest causal factor. In the Burdekin district, green mature fruit were harvested from ten orchards and ripened at 20±0.5°C; 70% of orchards produced more than 25% green skin area on ripe fruit. The following year, orchard-specific N application at pre-flowering and panicle emergence showed higher proportions of green colour with soil N of 150 g/tree or more, while foliar N increased green colour in the high-green orchard. Anthracnose severity rose significantly with 300 g N/tree or foliar treatment in the high-green orchard, supporting N as a reducer of mango fruit quality via greener colour and increased disease.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages7

Reading Time18 min

AccessFree to download

Summary

Background: ripening, green colour retention, and quality impact

Factors influencing mango skin colour and prior nitrogen evidence

Study objectives and survey design

Experimental approach for N application effects

Table I: Survey results across commercial orchards

# Effect of nitrogen on the skin colour and other quality attributes ofripe 'Kensington Pride'mango(Mangifera indica L.)fruit ByH.NGUYEN1,P.HOFMAN2,R.HOLMES³,I.BALLY⁴,B.STUBBINGS²and R.MCCONCHIE1*ISchool of Land Water &Crop Sciences,The University of Sydney,NSW 2006,Australia2Centre for Subtropical Fruits,Agency for Food and Fibre Sciences,Department of PrimaryIndustries,Nambour,Queensland 4560,Australia 3Agency for Food and Fibre Sciences,Department of Primary Industries,Ayr,Queensland4807,Australia 4Agency for Food and Fibre Sciences,Department of Primary Industries,Mareeba,Queensland4880,Australia (e-mail:mcconchier@agric.usyd.edu.au) ## SUMMARY Near-ripe‘Kensington Pride'mango(Mangifera indica L.)fruit with green skin colour generally return lower whole-sale and retailprices.Pre-harvest management,especially nitrogen(N)nutrition,appears to be a major causal factor.To obtain an understanding of the extent of the problem in the Burdekin district(dry tropics;the major productionarea in Australia),green mature Kensington Pride'mango fruit were harvested from ten orchards and ripened at20±0.5°C.Of these orchards,70%produced fruit with more than 25%of the skin surface area green when ripe.Thefollowing year,the effect of N application on skin colour and other quality attributes was investigated on threeorchards,one with a high green(HG)skin problem and two with a low green (LG)skin problem.N was applied atpre-flowering and at panicle emergence at the rate of 0,75,150,300 g per tree (soil applied)or 50g per tree as foliarN for the HG orchard,and0,150,300,450g per tree(soil applied)or 50gper tree(foliar)for the LG orchards.In allotchards the proportion of green colour on the ripe fruit was significantly(P<0.05)higher with soil applications of 150gNor more per tree.Foliar sprays resulted in a higher proportion of green colour than the highest soil treatment inthe HG orchard,but not in the LG orchards.Anthracnose disease severity was significantly(P<0.05)higher with 300gof N per tree or foliar treatment in the HG orchard,compared with no additional N.Thus,N can reduce mango fruitquality by increasing green colour and anthracnose disease in ripe fruit Skensilgton Pridemortgot (uoangtreparandice f)During typical ripening,its skin colour changes fromgreen to yellow,often with a pink to red blush on the sun-exposed side of the fruit.Ripening also results in fleshsoftening,conversion of starch to sugars,loss of acidityand development of ripe flavours and aromas(Hofmanet al;1997 a).However,in some fruit,loss of green colouroccurs more slowly than the other ripening changes,resulting in green soft fruit(Hofman et al.,1997a).Thesefruit sell more slowly on wholesale and retail marketsand often at a lower price.Green ripe fruit is one of themajor quality problems with‘Kensington Pride'mangoeson the Australian market. Several factors can affect fruit skin colour.McKenzie(1994)reported that 'Heidi’,'Haden'and 'TommyAtkins'mango had little green skin colour when soft.However,ripe 'Sensation',‘Keitt'and especially ‘Kent’fruit often retained significant green skin colour.Higherrates of pre-harvest nitrogen(N)fertilizer can signifi-cantly increase the amount of green colour on apple fruitat harvest and after storage(Neilsen et al.,1984;Fallahiet al.,1985;and Raese and Drake,1997).A survey ofmango grower fertilizer practices in South Africa (Accepted 17 September 2003) suggested a link between the green skin colour of ripe'Sensation'mangoes and the amount of pre-harvest Napplication(Oosthuyse,1993;McKenzie,1994).Fruitfrom orchards with a low soil N status de-greenedcompletely when ripe,while those from orchards withmoderate or high soil N either failed to de-green appre-ciably or did not de-green at all.These results suggestthat N fertilizer regimes can be manipulated to improvethe skin colour of ripe ‘Kensington Pride'mango on theretail shelf.In addition to influencing fruit colour,high Nrates have also been reported to increase fr

FAQs

Why does green skin colour matter for Kensington Pride mango market value?

Green ripe fruit sell more slowly and often at a lower price on wholesale and retail markets, making green skin colour a major quality problem.

How was nitrogen application tested in relation to green skin colour?

Fruit were compared across orchards with low or high green-skin problems, receiving soil N at pre-flowering and panicle emergence, or foliar N, then ripening was assessed at 20±0.5°C.

What N treatments increased green colour and anthracnose severity?

Soil applications of 150 g N per tree or more increased the proportion of green colour on ripe fruit. In the high-green orchard, anthracnose severity was significantly higher with 300 g N per tree or foliar treatment versus no additional N.

Aug 27, 2026

Uploaded by Bill Black