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THE CONTROL OF YELLOW LATEX IN MANGOSTEEN FRUIT THROUGH

IRRIGATION AND FERTILIZER APPLICATION

Article  in  Acta horticulturae · February 2013

DOI: 10.17660/ActaHortic.2013.975.58

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 Acta Hort 975: 449-454 REPRINT

The Control of Yellow Latex on Mangosteen Fruit Through Irrigation and Fertilizer
Application

M. J. A. Syah, E. Mansyah, Affandi, T. Purnama and D. Fatria

Indonesian Tropical Fruits Research Institute
Jl. Raya Solok Aripan KM. 8 Solok 27301
P.O. Box 5 Solok, West Sumatra
Indonesia

Keywords: mangosteen, yellow latex, control practices

Abstract
Yellow latex on mangosteen fruits is the most prominent constrain to export of mangosteen from
Indonesia. Hence the control of yellow latex is critical in increasing the number of fruit that are suitable
for consumers. The objective of this research was to find the tecniques for controlling yellow latex
formation. The research was conducted at the farmer orchard in Lima Puluh Kota District, a mangosteen
production center of West Sumatra Province. A factorial experiment in a randomized block design with 2
factors and 3 replications was used. The first factor was irrigation (with and without irrigation) and the
second factor was fertilizer (no fertilizer, NPK fertilizer, NPK+Cal (1000 g Urea + 500 g SP-36 + 1000 g
KCl + 1000 g CaCO3), NPK+Ca2, NPK+Mg+Ca1 and NPK+Mg+Ca2 (1000 g Urea + 500 g SP-36 +
1000 g KCl + 1500 g CaCO3). Continuous drip irrigation was applied from flowering until harvest.
Fertilizer was applied at the early flowering stage. There was an interaction between application of drip
irrigation and fertilization on percentage of fruit with yellow latex in the fruit endocarp. Continuous drip
irrigation reduced the percentage of fruit with yellow latex on the endocarp and significantly increased the
percentage of fruit free from yellow latex. Application of fertilizer was able to reduce yellow latex in the
fruit endocarp with the NPK+Ca2 treatment giving the best result.

INTRODUCTION
Mangosteen has a very good prospect for both domestic sales and for export. Volumes and
values of exports are relatively high but fluctuate from year to year (Table 1.). In the period 2002 – 2006
the variation of export volume ranged between 3.045,38 and 9.030,51 tons with the value ranging from
USD 3.291,885 to 9.306,040. These export values show that the contribution of mangosteen to the total
export value of fruits was the highest in Indonesia, replacing that of banana.
Standard criteria for mangosteen export are uniform in skin color, complete calyx with fresh
green color; clean and free from pests and diseases, free from yellow latex on the skin, petiole and inside
of the fruit; and edible part of the fruit being fresh white. For fresh quality mangosteen, the Indonesian
national standard prescribes the color of the skin fruit as being red green up to shiny pink and there are
three classes of quality, namely: Super (> 65 mm), Quality I (55 – 65 mm), Quality II (< 55 mm)
(Direktorat Tanaman Buah, Dirjen Bina Produksi Hortikultura, 2002). From the total production of
mangosteen in Indonesia during the last five years, only 4,9 – 13,09 % could fulfill standard these criteria
for export due to the overall low quality of the crop that was predominantly caused by pests and diseases
attacking, yellow latex on the fruit, and the inappropriate post harvest handling.
Research on harvest and post harvest handling, intended to increase or maintain mangosteen fruit
quality, such as research on time and method of harvesting (Sabari, 1980; Suyanti et al., 1997),
characteristics of fresh mangosteen fruits preferred by consumer (Suyanti et al., 1999), and storage of
fresh mangosteen fruit (Setyadjit and Syaifullah, 1994; Syaifullah et al., 1998) had been done and
published.

Proc. 4th International Symposium on Tropical and Subtropical Fruits

Eds. Endah Retno Palupi et al.
Acta Hort. 975. ISHS. 2013 449
 Yellow latex on mangosteen fruit skin (the exocarp) make fruit rough and and unattractive. In
addition, yellow latex within the flesh of the fruit (endocarp) causes the fruit to be inedible (Verheij &
Cornel, 1992; Krishnamurthi & Rao, 1962). In previous research, the cause of yellow latex on
mangosteen was not identified and control practises could not, therefore be introduced. Several reports
indicated that the presence of yellow latex was caused by mechanical factors such as bites or punctures by
insects, and proximity damage during harvesting and packaging. Other researchers claimed that yellow
latex was a physiological disorder related to turgidity of cells on the exodermis and that turgidity pressure
changes in cells of the fruit, due to the extreme environmental changes, result in yellow latex forming
inside the fruit. Morton (1987) argued that the caused by continuously torrential rains followed by sun
light over a along period of time. In addition, Verheij and Cornel (1992) stated that yellow latex was
caused by over irrigation after long dry period.
Previous research showed that yellow latex on mangosteen could be differentiated as yellow latex
at outer part of fruit (exocarp) and inner part of the fruit (endocarp). The contamination by yellow latex
– such part are bitter and not suitable for consumption. Indriyani et al. (2002) reported that there was no
correlation between the occurence of yellow latex on the exocarp with that in the endocarp. Hence the
cause of yellow latex on the exocarp may be different from that in the endocarp. Yellow latex in
endocarp may be caused by physiological factors while in the exocarp it may be caused mainly by
mechanical factor such as bite or punctures from insects, proximity damage , or inappropriate harvest and
post harvest handling methods.
Mansyah et al. (2003) reported that yellow latex on exocarp correlated positively to temperature,
days of rain, total rainfall, and leaf K content. Yellow latex in the endocarp was positively correlated with
rainfall and relative humidity in which the higher the rainfall and relative humidity, the higher the
percentage of fruit with yellow latex in endocarp. Increase content of Ca, K and Zn in the leaf of was able
was to suppress the percentage of yellow latex in the endocarp.
This study investigated the application of continously drip irrigation during fruiting........season,
combined with application of N, P, K, Mg and Ca fertilizer on the formation of yellow latex in
mangosteen.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The research was conducted at the farmer production center for mangosteen in Lima Puluh Kota,
West Sumatra, from September 2006 to February 2007. The data were analyzed based on a randomized
block design constituting of two factors, namely:
- Irrigation (A) consisting of 2 levels, i.e.,
 0 = without irrigation
 1 = with irrigation
- And application of fertilizer consisting of 6 levels, i.e.,
 0 = Without fertilizer
 1 = NPK (1000 g Urea + 500 g SP-36 + 1000 g KCl)
 2 = NPK + Ca1 (1000 g Urea + 500 g SP-36 + 1000 g KCl + 1000 g CaCo3)
 3 = NPK + Ca2 (1000 g Urea + 500 g SP-36 + 1000 g KCl + 1500 g CaCo3)
 4 = NPK + Ca1 + Mg (1000 g Urea + 500 g SP-36 + 1000 g KCl + 1000 g CaCo3
 + 500 g kieserite )
 5 = NPK + Ca2 + Mg (1000 g Urea + 500 g SP-36 + 1000 g KCl + 1500 g CaCo3 + 500 g kieserite )
All of the treatments were replicated three times. The treatments that showed significantly different
on analysis of variance were further analyzed with make used of LSD at 5 % level. The total numbers of
combination treatments was 12 and each treatment consisted of three trees in which each tree was
considered as a replication. Therefore, 36 trees were needed for the experiment. Fertilizer was applied
once during the following stage.

4502
Procedure
Mangosteen trees selected for uniformity of size and labeled. Irrigation was applied based on a
modified drip system, where water flowed from a drum ( 20 L capacity) through a plastic pipe containing
6 holes along its length. The plastic pipe was then burried in the soil under the canopy in a circle around
the tree (Fig 1.). Application of the irrigation water occured from the flowering stage until harvest. The
amount of water given was as much as 50 L per day/tree. Liming and fertilization application were done
at the same time when the trees entered the flowering stage. The calcium and fertilizers were distributed
evenly under the tree canopy.
Parameters observed included the percentage of fruit with yellow latex in outer part of
mangosteen fruit skin (exocarp)and in inner parts of fruit (endocarp) including percentage of mangosteen
fruit that were free from yellow latex (outer and inner part of the fruit) (Figs 1, 2 and 3, respectively).

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

The percentage of fruit with yellow latex on the exocarp was not influenced by irrigation,
fertilizer, or the interaction between these two factors (Table 2). The percentage of fruit showing yellow
latex ranging from 30.0% to 53.44%, was not significantly influenced by irrigation and fertilization
tratments.
In contrast, the percentage of fruit with yellow latex in the endocarp was influenced by the
interaction between irrigation and fertilization treatment (Table 3.). The percentage of fruit with yellow
latex in the endocarp was higher in the trees without fertilization and irrigation compared with the trees
with irrigation only, i.e, 48.9 and 21.8%, respectively. This low percentage of yellow latex in the
irrigation treatment was possibly due to maintenance of turgor pressure in the cell walls that comprise the
endocarp. Application of continous drip irrigation around the roots would reduce fluctuation in soil water
content. Similar research carried out by Jawal (2004) and Sdoodee and Chiarawipa (2005) revealed that
application of continous drip irrigation during the fruit development stage significantly decreased
percentage of yellow latex at the mangosteen endocarp.
The unirrigated treatment combined with NPKCa1 or NPKCa2 resulted in percentages of yellow
latex of 29,9 and 22,2%, respectively. These levels significantly lower than when no irrigation was
combined with no fertilizer treatment where the percentage of possibly due to cell walls within the
endocarp being stronger due to the higher calcium supply (1986). Fertilizer in combination with irrigation
overall resulted in a decreased percentage of fruit with yellow latex in the fruit endocarp compared with
fertilizer treatments that did not have irrigation (22.4% and 33.0%, respectively).
The number of fruit that were free of yellow latex both on endocarp and on the exocarp was
significantly influenced by irrigation treatment (Table 4). The application of continous drip irrigation
during the fruit development stage significantly increased percentage of mangosteen fruit that free from
yellow latex compared to the non-irrigation treatment (48.1 and 36.7%, respectively). In contrast,
application of single treatment of different fertilizer combination did not increase the proportion of yellow
latex-free fruit. However, within the drip irrigation treatment, aplication of NPKCa2 fertilizer tended to
result in a higher percentage of yellow latex-free fruit compared to NPKCa in combination with Mg
fertilizer.

CONCLUSIONS
The percentage of yellow latex-free mangosteen fruits was influenced by the interaction of
irrigation and fertilization practices. Application of continous drip irrigation during the development
phase untill harvest reduced the percentage of yellow latex on both the fruit exocarp and the endocarp.
Fertilizer applications as a single treatment did not significantly influence on percentage of yellow latex
on the fruit endocarp or exocarp, or the percentage of the yellow latex-free mangosteen fruits.

4513
Literature Cited
Direktorat Tanaman Buah Dirjen Bina Produksi Hortikultura. 2002. Profil Sentra Produksi Manggis.
Indriyani, N.L.P. Lukitariati, S. Nurhadi, dan M. Jawal A. 2002. Studi kerusakan buah manggis akibat
kerusakan getah kuning. J. Hort. 12(4):276-283.
Jawal, M. Anwarudin Syah. 2004. Pengaruh pemberian air dan pemupukan terhadap getah kuning pada
buah manggis. Laporan hasil peelitian Balai Penelitian Tanaman Buah, tahun anggaran 2004 (belum
publikasi).
Krishnamurthi, S., and N. V. Madava Rao. 1962. Mangosteen deserves wider attention. Indian Hort. 7
(1): 3 - 8
Mansyah, E,. M. Jawal A.S, Jumjunidang, Novaril, Titin Purnama, Dewi Fatria, Kartono, Hani
Handayani, Riska, dan Firdaus Usman, 2003. Identifikasi faktor-faktor penyebab keluarnya getah
kuning pada buah manggis. Laporan hasil penelitian Balai Penelitian Tanaman Buah, tahun anggara
2003 (belum publikasi).
Morton, J. F. 1987. Fruits of warm climate. Media Incorporated. Greensboro. P. 301 – 304.
Sabari. 1980. Penentuan waktu pemetikan buah manggis. Bul. Penel. Hort. VIII (5): 11 – 18.
Sdoodee, S. and Chiarawipa, R. 2005. Regulating irrigation during pre-harvest to avoid the incidence of
translucent flesh disorder and gamboges disorder of mangosteen fruits. Songklanakarin Journal
Science Technology. Vol. 27 (5): 957 – 965.
Setyadjit dan Syaifullah. 1994. Penyimpanan buah manggis dalam suhu dingin. J. Hort 4 (1): 64 – 76.
Setyamidjaja, D. 1986. Pupuk dan pemupukan. C.V. Simplex. Jakarta. 122 p.
Suyanti, Roosmani ABST, dan Syaifullah. 1997. Karakterisasi sifat fisik dan kimia buah manggis dari
beberapa cara panen. J. Hort. 6 (5): 493 – 507.
Suyanti, Roosmani, and Dewi Sastra. 1999. Karakterisasi mutu buah manggis segar. J. Hort. 8(4): 1284
– 1292.
Syaifullah, Setyadjit, Dondy ASB dan Ucu Rusdiyanto. 1998. Penyimpanan buah manggis segar dalam
atmosfir termodifikasi pada berbagai suhu dingin. J. Hort. 8(3): 1191 – 1200.
Verheij, E.W.M and R.E. Cornel. 1992. Plant resources of South-East Asia 2. Edible Fruit and Nuts.
Prosea. Bogor, Indonesia.

Tables

Table 1. Production, export volume, export value and percentage of mangosteen that fulfill the standard
export criteria during the five years (2002 – 2006).

Year Production (ton) Export volume Export value (US Percentage of

(ton) $) exported fruit
(%)
2002 62.055 6.512,42 6.956.920 10.49
2003 79.073 9.304,51 9.306.040 11.77
2004 62.117 3.045,38 3.291.855 4.90
2005 64.711 8.472,77 6.386.091 13.09
2006 72.634 5.857,41 3.894.391 8.06
Average 68.118 6.638,50 5.967.059,4 9.66
Source: Direktorat Tanaman Buah, Dirjen Bina Produksi Hortikultura, 2002

4
452
 Table 2. Average percentage of fruit with the exocarp damaged with yellow latex as
influenced by irrigation and fertilization treatment.
Irrigation
Fertilization Without irrigation With irrigation Average
Without fertilizer 33,53 36,77 35,15 a
NPK fertilizer 30,67 45,49 38,08 a
NPK + Ca1 fertilizer 30,26 41,29 35,78 a
NPK + Ca2 fertilizer 45,93 30,00 37,97 a
NPK + Ca1 + Mg fertilizer 53,44 34,40 43,92 a
NPK + Ca2 + Mg fertilizer 47,67 33,22 40,45 a
Average 40,25 a 36,86 a
Means followed by the same letter in each row or column were not significantly different at 5% level

Table 3. Average percentage of fruit with yellow latex in the endocarp as influenced by irrigation and
fertilization treatment.
Irrigation Average
Fertilization Without irrigation With irrigation
Without fertilizer 48,87 a A 21,77 a B 35,32 ns
NPK fertilizer 31,67 ab A 24,77 a A 28,03
NPK + Ca1 fertilizer 29,92 b A 22,09 a A 26,01
NPK + Ca2 fertilizer 22,21 b A 16,90 a A 19,56
NPK + Ca1 + Mg fertilizer 34,77 ab A 23,17 a A 28,97
NPK + Ca2 + Mg fertilizer 30,67 ab A 25,89 a A 28,29
Average 33,02 A 22,37 B
Mean values followed by the same block letters in each row or mean values followed by the same lower case in each
colomn are not significantly different at p = 0.05 based on LSD.

Table 4. Average percentage of yellow latex-free fruit as affected by by irrigation and fertilization
treatment.
Irrigation
Fertilization Without irrigation With irrigation Average
Without fertilizer 32,87 47,97 40,42 ns
NPK fertilizer 45,93 42,84 44,39
NPK + Ca1 fertilizer 45,63 45,84 45,74
NPK + Ca2 fertilizer 40,79 57,00 48,90
NPK + Ca1 + Mg fertilizer 25,50 51,32 38,41
NPK + Ca2 + Mg fertilizer 29,45 43,46 36,46
Average 36,70 A 48,07 B
ns
Mean values followed by the same block letters in a row are not significantly different at p = 0.05 based on HSD.
= Not significant different at p = 0,05.

4535
 Figures

Figure 1. The method of drip irrigation where water flowed from a drum through a plastic
pipe whith 6 holes along the length The plastic pipe was burried in the soil in a
around each mangoteen tree.

Figure 2. Yellow latex on exocarp (left) and in aril of mangosteen fruit (right)

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