Brazil stands out as one of the largest producers of mango (Mangifera indica L.) in the world. However, significant losses are observed in all stages of production chain, mainly in the retail market, which are correlated almost entirety to incidence of fungal diseases. In this way, the objective of this study was to determine the incidence of natural infection of Lasiodiplodia theobromae, causal agent of stem-end rot, and postharvest quality of 'Tommy Atkins' mangos, traded in the wholesale market of the Central de Abastecimento (EMPASA) from Campina Grande, Paraíba State, Brazil. To determine natural incidence of the disease it was collected 40 fruits at mature-green maturity stage from four different wholesale marketing stores at EMPASA that were sent to Laboratory of Phytopathology (CCA/UFPB). After sanitization, fruits were kept at room conditions (28 ± 2 ºC and RH 75 ± 6%) during eight days, determining first symptoms and signals of the pathogen. The characteristics of quality were determined by collecting 10 fruits from each wholesale marketing store. Fruits were transported to the Laboratory of Biology and Postharvest Technology (CCA/UFPB), where it was evaluated Soluble Solids (SS), Titratable Acidity (TA), SS/TA, and pH. Data were subjected to variance analysis of and means compared by the Tukey test at 5% of probability. Mango commercialized in the wholesale market of EMPASA, Campina Grande, showed low SS and high TA contents characterizing fruit at the beginning of maturation. Fruits showed 88.9% of natural incidence of stalk rot in the eighth day of storage, which is deleterious for retail quality of fruits, characterizing a causal factor for the higher postharvest losses.
Mangifera indica; Lasiodiplodia theobromae; postharvest; retail losses
