HARVESTING Mangos marketed in the United States are usually picked at the mature green stage to withstand postharvest handling practices. Mangos are picked by hand or by using a long picking pole which has a canvas or nylon bag attached near a cutting blade to catch the fruit. Ladders and hydraulic lifts are also used to help pickers reach fruit high in the tree canopy. Mango fruits are usually picked before they are fully ripe with the stem intact and after they develop red, orange, or yellow color. The long stem assures that the internal latex, or juice, does not leak. The fruit are stored stem end down on racks to further prevent latex from dripping on other fruit. The fruit bruises easily and must be handled carefully to avoid damage. PACKING Industry harvesting guidelines recommend that mangos be protected from exposure to direct sunlight while they wait transport to the packinghouse. Direct sunlight results in sunburn and higher flesh temperatures, which in turn accelerates ripening and shortens potential shelf life. On most farms, the fruit may wait fr om 30 minutes to 6 hours before they are transported to the packinghouse. Mangos can either be offloaded to the packinghouse in field crates or from trucks with large cargo holds. Upon arrival at the packinghouse, mangos are transferred into a water flume system, where they are sprayed and brushed to remove soil, latex and other organic materials. Next, the fruit is pre-sized and placed back into crates. Then, in order to control fruit flies, mangos are immersed in a hot water dump tank for a time period that can range from 65 to 110 minutes, depending on fruit variety, weight, and size. The hot water tank is filled with potable water at 115ºF. Some packinghouses will then conduct a post-water treatment cooling, known as hydrocooling, after the hot water treatment to rapidly decrease the flesh temperature and reduce injury to the fruit. Hydrocooler water temperatures 4 MANGOS are usually maintained between 70º to 72ºF and the mangos are exposed to the cool water for about 30 minutes. Industry guidelines pr ovide time and temperature recommendations for hydrocooler use with mangos to prevent water uptake into the harvested fruit. The fruit is transferred back to a packing line and graded by weight and size in accordance with USDA standards and/or buyer requirements. Grading allows for removal of mangos that are misshaped, bruised, cut, or have signs of decay. Some fruit may undergo a coating of wax to improve natural fruit gloss and reduce water loss during holding and transport. Mangos are packed into ventilated, single-layer cartons with or without lids. The openings in the cartons are important to ensure uniform temperature and humidity during storage and shipping.