Use of Electrical Conductivity as a Tool for Determining Damage Index of Some Mango Cultivars
Omayma M. Ismail *
Horticultural Crop Technology, National Research Centre (NRC), Giza, 12311, Egypt
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Four Mango (Mangifera indica L.) cultivars: ‘Ewais’, ‘Sidik’, ‘Fajrikalan’ and ‘Zebda’ were investigated to study the electrical conductivity as a tool for determining damage index of mango cultivars and their relationship with the index of injury (Id), the Relative Water Content (RWC), Soluble Solid Content (SSC) and total phenols. ‘Ewais’ had the highest cold tolerance whereas ‘Fajrikalan’ had the lowest cold tolerance. EC and Id values were highest at -4°C and there was a direct proportional among: cold injury, exposure time and the decreasing of temperature. Cold temperature increased the accumulation of SSC with time. Total phenols of ‘Ewais’ and ‘Fajrikalan’ were lower than in ‘Zebda’ and ‘Sidik’. The relationship between the RWC and the Id was not clear from this experiment.
Keywords: Mango, electrical conductivity, injury index and relative water content