BACKGROUND: Large improvements have been realized on the accuracy of the determination of fruit quality. The relevance of the relationship between commonly used quality descriptors and their related chemical contents was here questioned under the influence of water supply reduction and postharvest cold storage. The study relied on three analyses: (1) a correlation table between quality descriptors and compound contents, (2) principal component analysis using the selected variables to see the quality discrimination dictated by treatments; and (3) linear correlation between content and descriptors according to treatments. RESULTS: The results indicate that abiotic parameters applied on mango fruits before or after harvest can affect the relationship between a quality descriptor and the content in compounds it is related to, here between titratable acidity and organic acid content and to a lesser extent between color, represented by hue angle values, and carotenoids, possibly creating bias in the final quality determination. A stronger relation between total soluble solids and total sugar content, were observed under mild abiotic stress. CONCLUSION: Fruit growth and postharvest storage conditions, such as irrigation and cold storage, can influence the actual correspondence between the compounds contents and the descriptors used to estimate fruit quality, particularly for pulp color, sugars and acids.