Minimizing post-harvest waste of mango in rural Mozambique—The effect of different solar setups in mango drying

Four solar dryers were tested for dehydrating mango slices. The design of the dryers included setups allowing direct exposure of the fruit to the sun, with fans (DF) or without fans (DnoF), as well as setups that provided shade to the fruits, with fans (IF) and without fans (InoF). Mango slices dried in the open sun (OS) were used as a control. Parameters measured included air temperature, humidity, fruit weight loss, and dried mango analysis for water content, water activity, and microbial count. The setups DF and IF dried the mango slices approximately 40 hours faster than OS, while DnoF took approximately 74 hours and did not dry the mango to the microbial-safety zone of 0.6 of water activity. Microbiological analysis (Enterobacteriaceae, lactic acid bacteria, mould, and yeast) showed no significant differences except for total aerobic plate count, which, despite the difference, its values remained under the safe consumption limit of 4 CFU/g. The economic evaluation suggests a potential revenue of 980 USD for smallholder farmers in Mozambique using DF and IF setups from the first year. This study advocates for solar dryers to reduce post-harvest losses and increase income in rural Mozambique.