ICAR-IIHR’s Hot Water Technology to boost the export of South Indian Mangoes

ICAR-Indian Institute of Horticultural Research, Bengaluru has developed and validated a new postharvest hot water treatment protocol for control of fruit fly and anthracnose in commercial mango cultivars. Previously two different postharvest hot water treatments were recommended for control of fruit fly (48°C for 60 min) and anthracnose (52°C for 5-10 min). Both treatments have to be given separately for control of these two problems.

Further the recommended postharvest hot water treatment (48°C for 60 minutes) for control of fruit fly was observed to cause severe internal breakdown (spongy tissue like) in Alphonso cultivar. The newly standardized hot water treatment involves subjecting the mature green mangoes to 55°C hot water for 20 minutes followed by dipping the fruits in 5% salt water for 30 minutes.

The proposed short duration hot water treatment does not cause any internal breakdown but effectively controls fruit fly infestation besides controlling anthracnose disease. Scale-up trails have been carried out using this protocol for the mango varieties viz. Alphonso, Banganapalli and IIHR mango hybrids (Arka Uday and Arka Suprabhat) to validate the efficacy of the developed protocol.

Once approved by the quarantine department (DPPQ&S), exporters could able to reduce the quarantine hot water treatment time by one third and without any internal breakdown issues in Alphonso variety. However, currently it can also be used for controlling the fruit-fly and anthracnose of mangoes to be sent to distant local markets or to countries where quarantine requirement is not there.

This technology helps in controlling the postharvest losses of mango due to fruit fly and anthracnose spoilage and provides higher income to the sellers, other stakeholders and higher satisfaction to consumers. It has the additional advantage of single hot water treatment that controls both fruit fly and anthracnose.

ICAR-IIHR, Bengaluru has facilitated the exporter Mrs. Haseena Roshan, Proprietrix, Millet Smile, Yelahanka for shipment of 1.2 tons of Banganapalli mangoes using this hot water treatment protocol to the Asian country Brunei on 25th June 2026 through air cargo from Chennai airport. The buyer confirmed that the mangoes arrived in good condition free from fruit-fly and anthracnose with satisfactory quality and overall appearance.

(Source: ICAR-Indian Institute of Horticultural Research, Bengaluru)