Coimbatore: Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU), University of Guelph in Canada, Industrial Technology Institute, Colombo and Mysore Resettlement and Development Agency, Erode have jointly developed Hexanal formulation to minimise post-harvest losses of mango.
Experiments carried out by TNAU in three major mango growing domains in the state have demonstrated that the pre-harvest spray of Hexanal formulation retained the fruits in the trees itself for about three weeks.
It also showed shelf-life extension for another three weeks during storage or transportation which helped growers to gain additional income due to minimum post-harvest losses, besides lucrative price for their produce, R Rabindran, Registrar, TNAU, said in a release issued here today.
The National Development Research Centre and Department of Foreign Affairs-Trade and Development, Canada, have jointly granted a research project on "enhanced preservation of mangoes in South Asia", to the University, it said.
Scientists from the University of Guelph in Canada, Industrial Technology Institute, Colombo and Mysore Resettlement and Development Agency (MYRADA), Erode are involved in the Rs 12.5 crore project ending next month. A workshop was held to deliver the developed technology in Theni, Tamil Nadu recently, it added.
The prime focus of the project is to develop a technology that can minimise post-harvest losses in mango orchards while enhancing availability of fruits, thereby ensuring nutritional security.
The researchers at the Nano Technology Centre of TNAU are developing banana fibre-based nanometric to regulate the release of hexanal which facilitates extension of shelf life of fruits during storage or transport.
The Colombo-based Industrial Technology Institute had developed a patented plant based bio-wax with promising results in some of tropical fruits and this technology would be used in these project, the release added.
