Water denial to influence mango carbohydrate content

Of several agronomic treatments imposed on commercial 'Calypso™' mango orchards with the intent of increasing fruit dry matter content, water denial was selected for repeated experiments in subsequent seasons. NIR estimated DM and lineal LWT was measured weekly. A 2-4 week water deficit before harvest increased DM levels by ca. 0.4-1.2% DM units without decreasing fruit size, while longer water denial periods were also associated with decreased fruit size. The DM% increase in water denied fruit was associated with increased Brix of ripened fruit, without impact on ripening behavior (time to ripen). Additionally it was demonstrated that the NIR-DM model was robust in use across fruit from trees grown under different water stress levels (R2=0.82, RMSEP=0.52).