Mehrdad Jafarpour

This study was conducted to investigate the possible use of prominent agricultural wastes, including wheat and barley straw, maize stem residue, wood chips, sugar beet pulp, and sawdust as basal substrates, as well as wheat and rice bran, soybean powder, and their combinations as food supplements on king oyster mushroom production. A factorial experiment was conducted in a completely randomized design with four replications. The highest yield (2363.2 g kg⁻¹), biological efficiency (236.32%), production rate (225.96 kg day⁻¹), and the shortest pinhead formation stage (10 days) were observed in sugar beet pulp mixed with rice bran. The shortest time for primary fruit body phase (3.66 days) and complete fruit body phase (4.5 days) were observed in wheat straw combined with soybean powder as well as barley straw mixed with some supplements, respectively. Different substrate compositions had significant effects on the growth period, yield, production rate, and biological efficiency of Pleurotus eryngii widely used for nutritional and medicinal purposes.

The present study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of chitosan (2%), ascorbic acid (40 g/L), citric acid (40 g/L), lavender oil (70%), cinnamon oil (50%) and heat treatment to enhance the quality and shelf‐life of sliced dried button mushroom (Agaricus bisporous) stored at 4°C for 19 days. Based on a completely randomized design, the experiment included seven treatments and four replications. Mushroom weight loss, soluble solids content (SSC), firmness, browning index (BI), vitamin C, pH, overall acceptability, and shelf‐life were measured. Lavender oil treatment was found to result in comparatively the most favorable effects in terms of BI, overall acceptability, marketability, weight loss, longevity and firmness of mushrooms. The study recommends lavender oil treatment as an economical processing strategy for preserving the quality and extending the storage life of ready‐to‐use air‐dried sliced mushrooms.Practical Applications: Unfortunately, mushrooms are highly perishable and tend to lose their quality during 3 days at room temperature and 8 days under refrigeration conditions in the fresh form, because they have no cuticle to protect them from physical damage, microbial attack and water loss as well as their high respiration rate. Their high respiration rate and high water content make them prone to microbial spoilage and enzymatic browning. Due to the lack of knowledge about an appropriate treatment for preserving the quality of sliced mushrooms, particularly air‐dried mushrooms and because most of studies have focused on only a few number of qualitative traits of mushrooms this study was conducted to develop an efficient cost‐effective procedure applicable for improving most of the postharvest qualitative traits of ready‐to‐use air‐dried mushrooms with safe natural compounds.

Effects of Herbal Essences and Nano-technology on Enzyme Activity of Cut Rose Flowers Cultivar ‘Black Majic’

Implementation of agricultural residues for oyster mushroom culture has been accepted world-wide. In this study, we used wheat straw, barley straw, maize stem residue, and lawn residue as substrates coupled with wheat bran, rice bran and soybean powder as complements for the growth of P. florida. Wheat and barley straws which contained a high fiber and C/N ratio had the best growth period, fruiting body weight, yield, and biological efficiency. Assessment of substrate and complement combinations indicated that the lowest growth period was obtained from barley straw enriched with rice bran (24.67 day). However the highest fruiting body number (36.33), fruiting body weight (31.17 g), yield (1039 g), and biological efficiency (207.8 %) belonged to wheat straw complemented by either wheat or rice bran. In conclusion, the highest fruiting body weight, yield, and biological efficiency was achieved by implementation of composts in which high fiber substrates and complements were combined.

ISHS VI International Postharvest Symposium EFFECT OF TWO POTASSIUM FERTILIZERS WITH BALANCED REQUIREMENT OF OTHER NUTRIENTS ON QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE CHARACTERISTICS OF APPLE FRUIT TREES ('RED DELICIOUS')