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Transportation of mango (Mangifera indica) is a significant challenge in a large archipelago country like Indonesia. This study addresses the quality assurance problem of long-distance transportation of mangoes from Java Island, Indonesia, and recommends the optimal harvest age for different transportation schemes in the Indonesian mango supply chain. The study investigated harvested mangoes at three different maturity levels and evaluated their quality characteristics, including climacteric peak and respiration rate, total soluble solids, acidity, firmness, dry matter concentration, and weight loss. Samples were kept in their respective packaging during storage to imitate transportation conditions, and an Internet of Things (IoT)-based system was used for real-time monitoring and remote access to the storage conditions information. Long-distance transportation cases of six destinations with different distances, modes of transportation, travel durations, and environmental conditions were studied. Mango harvested at 105 and 108 days after flowering is suitable for consumption, while the harvest age of 90–95 days after flowering is recommended for longer transportation durations involving non-refrigerated and refrigerated vehicles. The harvest age of 105 days after flowering is appropriate for long-distance transportation with non-refrigerated vehicles, while 108 days after flowering is only recommended for inter-province transportation with non-refrigerated vehicles with a short duration of transportation. The existing practice where one harvest age applies for all destinations cannot be recommended as quality deterioration and/or inappropriate maturity level at destination may occur. The results emphasize the importance of determining the optimal harvest time based on the climacteric peak and quality changes during storage to ensure that mangoes meet consumer demands and maximize their quality and shelf life.

Background: Ginseng (the roots of Panax ginseng Meyer) is a well-known traditional Oriental medicine and is now widely used as a health food. It contains several types of ginsenosides, which are considered the major active medicinal components of ginseng. It has recently been reported that the qualitative and quantitative properties of ginsenosides found in ginseng may differ, depending on cultivation regions, ages, species, and so on. Therefore, it is necessary to study these variations with respect to cultivation ages and regions. Methods: In this study, 3–6-yr-old roots of P. ginseng were collected from three different cultivation regions. The contents of five ginsenosides (Rb1, Rd, Rc, Re, and Rgl) were measured by rapid resolution liquid chromatography coupled with quadruple–time-of-flight mass spectrometry. The Kruskal–Wallis Rank sum test and multiple t test were used for comparative analysis of the data to evaluate the dynamic changes in the accumulation of these ginsenosides affected by cultivation regions and ages. Results: The content and composition of ginsenosides varied significantly among specimens collected from different cultivation regions and having different cultivation ages. For all samples, the content of Rg1 and Re ginsenosides increases with age and this rate of increase is different for each sample. The contents of Rb1, Rc, and Rd varied with cultivation ages in samples from different cultivation regions; especially, Rb1 from a 6-yr-old root showed approximately twofold variation among the samples from three cultivation regions. Furthermore, the content of Rb1 highly correlated with that of Rd (r = 0.89 across all locations and ages). Conclusion: In our study, only the contents of ginsenosides Rg1 and Re were affected by the root age. Ginsenosides Rb1, Rc, and Rd varied widely with ages in samples from different cultivation regions.