The postharvest quality and shelf life of whole fresh mushroom (Agaricus bisporus) was monitored in active modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) (30 μm thickness, p-plus antimist polyethylene) with two different gas compositions (12% O2 + 2.5% CO2, 12% O2 + 5% CO2) at 5C with a relative humidity of 90% for 16 days. The control group including normal air (0.1% CO2 + 20.8% O2) was maintained under identical storage conditions. The present data indicated that the quality parameters, such as firmness, weight loss, opening cap percentage, browning index, L (lightness) color value, O2/CO2 level and microbial quality, were well retained with the treatment of active MAP 5% CO2, followed by 2.5% CO2 when compared with the control groups during storage. A good correlation could also be observed between the results of the brightness and rate of the browning. Total soluble solids value of mushroom significantly decreased; however, pH values slightly decreased in all treatment at the end of storage. The present findings indicate that active MAP storage including different headspace gas concentrations was found to be effective in maintaining the postharvest quality of white button mushroom for 16 days of storage. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONSAgaricus bisporus is one of the most known mushroom species because of its taste as well as special nutritive properties, which is also very susceptible to decay as a consequence of bearing high content of water. Today, various postharvest strategies have been applied for extending the quality, sensory and nutritive properties of this species; however, some applications in different conditions have not been tested on all mushroom species so far. The present study aims to assess different concentrations of O2 and CO2 in active modified atmosphere packaging for the postharvest extension of whole A. bisporus.

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This study was performed for comparison of meristem culture technique with shoot tip culture technique for obtaining virus-free plant, comparison of micropropagation success of two different nutrient media, and determination of effectiveness of real-time PCR assay for the detection of viruses. Two different garlic species (Allium sativum and Allium tuncelianum) and two different nutrient media were used in this experiment. Results showed that Medium 2 was more successful compared to Medium 1 for both A. tuncelianum and A. sativum (Kastamonu garlic clone). In vitro plants obtained via meristem and shoot tip cultures were tested for determination of onion yellow dwarf virus (OYDV) and leek yellow stripe virus (LYSV) through real-time PCR assay. In garlic plants propagated via meristem culture, we could not detect any virus. OYDV and LYSV viruses were detected in plants obtained via shoot tip culture. OYDV virus was observed in amount of 80% and 73% of tested plants for A. tuncelianum and A. sativum, respectively. LYSV virus was found in amount of 67% of tested plants of A. tuncelianum and in amount of 87% of tested plants of A. sativum in this study.

Irradiated pollen technique is the most successful haploidization technique within Cucurbitaceae. After harvesting of fruits pollinated with irradiated pollen, classical method called as “inspecting the seeds one by one” is used to find haploid embryos in the seeds. In this study, different methods were used to extract the embryos more easily, quickly, economically, and effectively. “Inspecting the seeds one by one” was used as control treatment. Other four methods tested were “sowing seeds direct nutrient media,” “inspecting seeds in the light source,” “floating seeds on liquid media,” and “floating seeds on liquid media after surface sterilization.” Y2 and Y3 melon genotypes selected from the third backcross population of Yuva were used as plant material. Results of this study show that there is no statistically significant difference among methods “inspecting the seeds one by one,” “sowing seeds direct CP nutrient media,” and “inspecting seeds in the light source,” although the average number of embryos per fruit is slightly different. No embryo production was obtained from liquid culture because of infection. When considered together with labor costs and time required for embryo rescue, the best methods were “sowing seeds directly in the CP nutrient media“ and ”inspecting seeds in the light source.”

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