Influence of fruitfly (Bactrocera dorsalis) infestation on thermal properties of mango fruits

Abstract

Mango (Mangifera Indica) is a major fruit crop of India grown in an area of 22 Lakh ha with a production of 18.64 million tonnes in 2015-16. Although, the demand for processed mango products is continuously increasing, the existing mango processing industries which cater to the demand of these prospective markets are facing many problems and one among them is the pest attack in mango fruits. Mango fruitfly (B. dorsalis) is one of the major pest which causes huge economic loss in mango varieties such as Banganpalli, Alphonso and Totapuri. The engineering properties of foods invariably determine the quality of food products in terms of visual characteristics and basic functionality. One of the engineering properties of food materials which attribute the internal quality of food material is thermal properties. Therefore, specific heat and thermal conductivity of healthy and fruitfly infested Alphonso and Totapuri mango fruits were determined using the standard procedure. It was observed that specific heat and thermal conductivity of healthy mango fruit was lower compared to fruitfly infested mango fruits for both the varieties possibly due to the presence of fruitfly maggots within the infested fruits which enhanced the heating process.