Mangoes normally take 5 to 6 days to ripen under tropical conditions in the age-old practice of placing them in paddy straw in a closed room. Nowadays traders in order to sell even immature fruits are following an unhygienic method of using calcium carbide for quick ripening. This chemical emits a harmful Acetylene gas that is get absorbed by the fruits. The unsuspecting public is lured by the colour of the mangoes and upon consumption gets affected.
1. Ripening process for large quantity of Mangoes:
The Mango wholesalers can adopt the following harmless commercial method to ripen large quantity of mangoes. Take 5 litres of water in a wide mouthed vessel and mix 10 ml of ‘ETHREL’ ( Ethephon 39%) and 2 gms of Sodium Hydroxide (NaOH) pellets in it. Place the vessel near mangoes and seal the room tightly. Fruits will ripen in between 12 to 24 hours. About 75% of the space in the air tight room or chamber should be filled with fruits leaving the remaining area for air circulation. For reducing the cost, the farmers / traders can also keep banana, papaya etc; in the same room and reduce the dosage of the Ethrel, as ethylene that evolves from banana and papaya will also facilitate the ripening process.
Since ‘Ethrel’ is a plant harmone, using it for ripening process is accepted as organic practice. It releases ethylene gas on atmospheric exposure thereby hastening the ripening process of any fruits located in its vicinity. ‘ETHREL’ ( Ethephon 39%) can be purchased from any Agricultural pesticide dealer and Sodium Hydroxide pellets can be had from any Scientific / Industrial chemical suppliers.
2. A simple hygienic mango ripening method for the households:
The following mango ripening method is a very simple process that can be easily done in any household if the quantity is small say about 1 or 2 baskets:
Raw mangoes are dipped in ‘Ethrel’ 0.1% solution i.e 1ml of ripening solution diluted in 1 litre of water and wiped dry. Spread a newspaper and neatly place mangoes on it arranging in such a way so that the mangoes should not touch each other. Then cover the whole lot with a thin cotton cloth. The fruits will ripen in 2 days.
Raw mangoes are dipped in ‘Ethrel’ 0.1% solution i.e 1ml of ripening solution diluted in 1 litre of water and wiped dry. Spread a newspaper and neatly place mangoes on it arranging in such a way so that the mangoes should not touch each other. Then cover the whole lot with a thin cotton cloth. The fruits will ripen in 2 days.
Regards,
Vishnu Sankar
