colour development and uneven ripening (Yahia, 2005). Water loss is greatly
infl uenced by temperature and relative humidity (RH) in the environment. With
constant RH and air movement, water loss increases signifi cantly with any
increase in temperature. Transpiration rate is infl uenced by cultivar and ripeness
stage. It is correlated with skin thickness, morphological structure, epidermal
cells and surface wax coating. For example, waxes usually develop on the
epidermis of fruit in the later stages of fruit development and thus it is common
for fruit harvested early to shrivel faster compared with those harvested at a more
advanced stage of development (Yahia et al. , 2006a). Mangoes should be kept in
an environment of about 85 to 90% RH. Slow cooling, such as placing warm
mangoes directly into a refrigerated area, will promote water loss because of the
large gradient in water concentration between the fruit and the relatively dry, cold
air. The area near the stem scar is more susceptible to water loss than the rest of
the fruit and thus is usually the fi rst to show shrivelling. Scuffed areas on the
surface of the fruit also collapse and shrivel from water loss.