Enhancing Postharvest Quality and Shelf Life of “Haribhanga” Mango Using On‐Tree Bagging and Aloe Vera Gel

Mango is a popular and economically significant fruit because of its nutritional importance. On‐tree fruit bagging is a fruitful practice used to protect fruit from pests, hail, and strong winds. Additionally, the postharvest of aloe vera gel (AV) is also a natural, cost‐effective, and eco‐friendly technique. Despite the extensive use of waxing and chemical coatings, the synergistic use of on‐tree bagged fruits (BG) followed by AV offers an alternate way to extend mango shelf life. This research aims to evaluate the impact of AV coating on the mango fruit’s quality subjected to BG under ambient conditions (25±3°C and 75±5% RH). During the marble stage, fruits were bagged in brown paper bags and harvested when they reached commercial maturity. BG were coated with AV treatments (BG + AV10 % and BG + AV20 % ), and unbagged fruits were used as a control. The study used three replicates and a completely randomized design (CRD), each comprising 10 fruit. The findings showed that BG + AV20 % treatment had a positive effect compared with the control on weight loss, total soluble solids, total sugar, pH, and decay incidence at 12 days of storage, while maintaining fruit firmness, total phenolic content and antioxidant activity. Besides, BG + AV20 % exhibited a considerable reduction in polyphenol oxidase (PPO), MDA, and H 2 O 2 , while higher levels of catalase (CAT) and peroxidase (POD) enzyme activity were observed. During storage, coated fruit peels exhibited less discoloration than the control. Therefore, these results highlight that AV treatment can preserve the quality and shelf life of “Haribhanga” mango, followed by on‐tree fruit bagging.