CURRENT POSTHARVEST HANDLING PRACTICES OF SALAK AND MANGO FRUITS IN INDONESIA

Mango (Mangifera indica) and salak (Salacca zalacca) are two exotic tropical fruit growing in Indonesia that are enjoyed by both local consumers and foreign tourists. There are many varieties of mango however, two cultivars ‘Arumanis’ and ‘Gedong Gincu’ are commonly cultivated. The fruit of these two cultivars of mango are sought after by consumers and have excellent prospects for export. Two cultivars of salak namely ‘Pondoh’ and ‘Bali’ are widely marketed within Indonesia and in recent years have attracted interest in the export market. This paper will examine good handling practices for these fruit that enhance the commercial prospects of growers. Efforts have been made to improve the quality of the mango and salak fruit marketed to consumers who purchase in modern markets. However, the quality of the fruit produced by local farmers is still a long way from meeting quality requirements of consumers shopping at modern markets because of the number of constraints being experienced by the producers. Salak, and particularly mango fruit, typically suffer physical, chemical and microbiological damages that reduce quality, that is further exacerbated during transport, storage and sale of the produce. The major challenge to the achievement of improved fruit quality occurs at the farmer level and it is here that the main effort must be directed and also supported from outside by a number of agencies, particularly government.