Button mushrooms have a very short shelf life after harvesting and are sensitive to mechanical damage and browning. This can be a severe problem in enlarging the market and the long-distance exportation of this product. In this respect, edible coatings could be an alternative treatment to extend the shelf life of button mushrooms, maintaining their quality during long-term storage. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of gum, agar, sodium alginate, egg white protein, and lecithin on the postharvest weight loss, color, browning, respiration rate, ethylene production, and storage life of button mushrooms. The results showed that the above-mentioned edible coatings are a promising way to extend the life and maintain the quality of button mushrooms. Significant differences (p < 0.05) were observed between the control and edible coating-treated samples in all parameters. Sodium alginate and gum were more effective in preventing weight loss, coloring, and browning than other edible coatings. On the other hand, the respiration rate and ethylene production were more suppressed by the agar and lecithin coatings compared to the others. In conclusion, it can be recommended that the above-mentioned edible coatings could be used as novel coatings in commercial treatments for maintaining the quality of button mushrooms during a long-term storage period.

Various treatments are carried out in order to extend both the shelf life and storage life of fresh fruit and vegetables after harvest and among them non-toxic for humans, environmentally and economically friendly alternative treatments are gained more importance. In the current study, methyl jasmonate (MeJA), cytokinin, and lavender oil which are eco-friendly and safe for human health were applied on apricot fruit. The treated fruit were stored at 0 °C and 90–95% relative humidity for 25 days and catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD), and ascorbate peroxidase (APX) enzyme activities and lipid peroxidation of apricots after treatments were studied. According to the findings obtained from the study, it was observed that 5 ppm cytokinin and 1000 ppm lavender oil treatments of apricot fruit gave better APX and CAT enzyme activity, respectively. In addition, better SOD enzyme activity in fruit was obtained with MeJA + lavender oil treatments. As a result, it can be emphasized that the product quality of apricot fruit is preserved as both the eco-friendly application of MeJA, cytokinin, and lavender oil separately from each other and the treatment of combinations between these compounds activate the enzymatic antioxidant defense systems of apricot fruit after harvest.

Peppers are cultivated in almost all provinces in Turkey, making up approximately 7% of the world’s production. In this study, the effects of pre-harvest cytokinin application on the postharvest physiology of pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) fruits (cv. Akra and Melek F1) grown in ecological conditions in Turkey (Van, eastern Turkey) were investigated. During the growing period, organic cytokinin(nytrozine) at two concentrations (50 and 100 ppm doses) was applied by spraying. Peppers were harvested in green maturity and then stored at 12 °C for 28 days. Changes in color, respiration rate, exogenous ethylene amount, antioxidative enzyme analysis (SOD, CAT and APX), lipid peroxidation, total phenolic content (TP) and antioxidant activity (AA) were determined just after the harvest and then at the 7th, 14th, 24th and 28th days. L^* values for both varieties and the control sample had fluctuations during storage, and they slightly decreased after 28 days, except for the end value of cv. Melek F1 with a 50 ppm addition. In terms of respiration rate values, the difference between applications was found to be statistically significant, except for the 14th and 24th days of storage, for cv. Akra F1; and the 0th and 28th days for cv. Melek F1, respectively. It was observed that cytokinin can delay aging in peppers of both cultivars stored for 28 days. As a result, as the used cytokinin has an organic origin, is not synthetic and does not have a negative effect on human health, it can be used safely and without a significant loss of quality characteristics for peppers. These applications have positive effects on in-package gas composition, antioxidative enzymes, lipid peroxidation, total phenolics and total antioxidant activity.

Recently, the production of macro-fungi (mushrooms) has steadily increased, and so has their economic value, in global terms. The use of functional foods, dietary supplements, and traditional medicines derived from macro-fungi is increasing as they have numerous health benefits as well as abundant nutrients. This study aimed to determine some biochemical contents (pH, soluble solid contents (SSC), total antioxidant capacity (TAC) and total phenolic contents (TPC)) of eight edible macro-fungi species growing naturally (in the wild) in Turkey. The samples were collected in the Van Yuzuncu Yil University (VAN YYU) campus area in the months of April–May 2018, in different locations, and brought to the laboratory, and the necessary mycological techniques were applied for their identification. Location, habitats, collection dates and some morphological measurements were determined for all identified species. Biochemical parameters of the macro-fungi species were analyzed separately both in cap and stem. The color values (L, a, b, Chroma and hue) were separately evaluated on cap surface, cap basement and stem. Results showed that there were significant differences for most of the biochemical parameters in different organs between and within species. The pH, SSC, TAC and TPC values varied from 6.62 to 8.75, 2.25 to 5.80° brix, 15.72 to 57.67 TE mg⁻¹ and 13.85 to 60.16 gallic acid equivalent (GAE) fresh weight basis. As a result of the study, it was concluded that the parameters such as total antioxidant capacity, total phenolic content and soluble content in Morchella esculenta, Helvella leucopus, Agaricus bitorquis and Suillus collinitus were higher than for the other species and clearly implied that they may be further exploited as functional ingredients in the composition of innovative food products.

Sert çekirdekli meyve türlerinden olan kayısı (Prunus armeniaca L.) insanlar tarafından hem taze meyve olarak hem de işleme teknolojisinde meyve suyu, kuru kayısı ve reçel olarak tüketilmesi yaygın olarak tercih edilmektedir. Türkiye kayısı üretiminde önemli bir yere sahiptir. Kayısı taze meyve olarak hasat sonrası ömrü sınırlı olan meyve türleri arasında yer almaktadır. Çalışmada, Bebeko kayısı çeşidi kullanılmış olup, meyveler Van ekolojik koşullarında yetiştirilmiş ve hasat olumunda derilmiştir. Mevcut çalışmada hasat sonrası Metil Jasmonate (MeJA, 0.2 mM), sitokinin (5 ppm), lavanta yağı (1000 ppm), MeJA (0.2 mM) + lavanta yağı (1000 ppm) ve sitokinin (5 ppm) + lavanta yağı (1000 ppm) uygulamalarının kayısının depolanma süre ve kalitesi üzerine etkileri araştırılmıştır. Depolama boyuncu uygulama yapılan meyvelerde pH, titre edilebilir asitlik (TEA), suda çözünür kuru madde miktarı (SÇKM), meyve kabuk rengi, toplam antioksidan kapasite, toplam fenolik madde içeriği, solunum hızı ve dışsal etilen üretim miktarı belirlenmiştir. Sonuç olarak, MeJA (0.2 mM) + lavanta yağı (1000 ppm) uygulamasının ürün kalitesini 35 gün boyunca koruduğu tespit edilirken, diğer uygulamaların ise ürün kalitesini 25 gün koruduğu belirlenmiştir. Elde ettiğimiz bulgular, uygulamaların kontrol meyvelerine göre daha iyi sonuç verdiğini ortaya koymuştur.

Maintaining the postharvest quality of tomatoes, which are essential in the world vegetable trade, is very important; otherwise, storage may cause severe quality and economic losses. This study aimed to determine the effects of 1-MCP treatments on quality and storage time to prevent quality loss and deterioration in tomatoes due to high temperature and to predict ethylene production through the Multivariate Adaptive Regression Splines algorithm during long-term storage. For this purpose, same-sized fruits were divided into three different groups. Two groups were treated with 1-MCP (625 and 1250 ppb), and the untreated fruit was the control. Then, the tomatoes were stored for 39 days at a temperature of 20 °C and relative humidity of 85–90%. The results obtained from the present study showed that the 1-MCP treatments prolonged the life and maintained the quality of tomato fruit during storage. The ethylene production and respiration rate were significantly lower in 1-MCP-treated fruit than in the untreated fruit during the storage period (p < 0.05). According to the Multivariate Adaptive Regression Splines algorithm, it was observed that increasing doses of 1-MCP inhibited ethylene production. Furthermore, weight loss and respiratory rate were effective on ethylene production at 100 and 43.9%, respectively. In conclusion, treating the fruit with 1250 ppb of 1-MCP was determined to be the best practice for maintaining all quality criteria during storage.