Sap burn injury is one of the major postharvest disorders that causes postharvest losses of mangoes. Popular dessert mango fruits from northern Sri Lanka were selected for this study. Mature mango fruits - ‘Willard’, ‘Karuthakolumban’, ‘Chembaddan’ and ‘Ambalavi’ - were harvested carefully with 5cm stalk for different treatments to minimize sap burn injury. Stalks were removed and fruits were dipped in GRAS compounds of 1 & 5% sodium chloride (Table salt) and 0.5 & 1% calcium hydroxide separately for 5 minutes. De-stemming and dipping fruits in 5% sodium chloride and 1% calcium hydroxide were effective in reducing sap burn injury in ‘Karuthakolumban’. However, 1% table salt and 0.5% calcium hydroxide successfully reduced sap burn injury in ‘Willard’, ‘Chembaddan’ and ‘Ambalavi’ mangoes. Fruit quality was measured in terms of pH, Total Soluble Solids (TSS) and marketability. Quality parameters of treated fruits were not significantly different (P=0.05) from non chemical treated good quality mango fruits. Sap management dynamics was very useful in controlling sap burn in ‘Chembaddan’ and ‘Ambalavi’ mangoes. No latex exudation was observed in these mangoes when stalk was broken by next day after harvesting. These results suggest that low cost environmentally friendly methods could be used to reduce sap burn injury in mangoes.

Key words: Mango cultivars, Postharvest disorder, GRAS compounds, Sap management dynamics, Fruit quality.